Kitsch, Camp & Exploitation | Vegas Seven | July 13-19, 2017

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KITSCH, CAMP & EXPLOITATION LAS VEGAS' MANY CONNECTIONS TO CULT FILM, FROM PIA ZADORA TO 'ASTRO-ZOMBIES'

I TA L I A N A M E R I C A N CO O K I N G

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ON THE COVER

Read Vegas Seven right-side up and then flip it over and start again with Seven Nights, featuring after-dark entertainment and the week’s nightlife happenings.

SATURDAY, JULY 15

CULT MOVIES Pictured THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS 1968 MOVIE POSTER

SATURDAY, JULY 29

A closer look at what makes a cult movie, underground insights and Las Vegas favorites.

SEVEN NIGHTS Photography LILIANA TREJO VANEGAS Crykit’s Playhouse collects fashions for partying all night long.

Mandalay Bay Ticket Office 702.632.7580 mandalaybay.com 800.745.3000 ticketmaster.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS Pia Zadora page 18

JULY 13–19, 2017 SOCIAL INFLUENCE

TO DO

13 24/7

What to do around the clock.

BY JASON R. LATHAM

14 The Deal

Happy hours show up for summer.

BY ANTHONY CURTIS

16 Laughter Is Coming

What we’re hoping to see in Thrones! The Musical Parody.

BY AMBER SAMPSON PLUS: World

Series of Darts

31 The New Tastemakers

Tech startup Influential capitalizes on the social media influencer-marketing trend.

BY MISTI YANG

32 Straight to Heller

Are the enemies on the right the right enemies to have?

BY MICHAEL GREEN

SPACES & PLACES

35 Away Message

The Philippines in pictures.

FEATURE

BY ANTHONY MAIR

18 When She’s Bad,

CONVERSATIONS

A conversation with cultmovie queen Pia Zadora.

39 Time Is Nothing

She’s Better

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

20 Heists, Hillbillies,

Mylene Delaire works to build awareness about epilepsy.

BY MICHAEL LYLE

Horror and Hell’s Angels

40 Ask a Native

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

BY JAMES P. REZA

22 Celluloid Camp

42 Lucky No. 7

7 underground films set in Las Vegas.

The enduring appeal of the cult film.

Giant lobsters and naked bike riders.

Our favorite cult movies.

BY WENDOH STAFF

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

24 King of the Astro-Zombies

Las Vegas filmmaker Ted V. Mikels had a vision all his own.

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

SEVEN NIGHTS

What To Do After Dark Concerts, nightclubs, food and experiences.

BY JASON R. LATHAM

TASTE

From Dusk Till Dawn

27 One Bite

Make it through an all-nighter in style with duds from Crykit’s Playhouse.

Summer eatin’ at Bandito Latin Kitchen & Cantina.

STYLING BY MICHELLE KOLNIK

BY GENEVIE DURANO

[Pool Tour]

28 Eating Our Feelings

GO Pool at Flamingo Las Vegas.

BY MARISA FINETTI

Whiskey takes flight at Oak & Ivy.

Comfort food that’s not bad for you.

OUR SITES TO SEE

VegasSeven.com Nile Rodgers Returns We chat with the Chic frontman before the band’s July 16 show at Pearl Concert Theater in Palms Casino Resort at vegasseven.com/nilerodgers.

DTLV.com Mediterranean Cuisine by Two Bald Brothers The new Downtown restaurant came out of the blue and is already stealing hearts with its shawarma and falafel.

RunRebs.com 5 Non-Conference Games UNLV Should Schedule These are the games we really want to see the Rebels play.

BY JASON R. LATHAM

[Drink This]

BY BOB BARNES PLUS: Pool

parties

SpyOnVegas.com The Hookup Find upcoming events, see highlights from the hottest parties, meet the DJs and more.

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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PHOTO OF THE WEEK Photography LILIANA TREJO VANEGAS

Ryan T. Doherty | Justin Weniger President Michael Skenandore Chief Financial Officer Sim Salzman Vice President, Marketing and Events Keith White Creative Director Sherwin Yumul Technical Director Herbert Akinyele Controller Jane Weigel

try a frozen citrus cooler or a man bucket of miller lite!

Letters and Story Ideas Comments@VegasSeven.com Advertising Sales@VegasSeven.com Distribution Distribution@VegasSeven.com

VEGAS SEVEN 701 Bridger Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89101 702-798-7000 Vegas Seven is distributed each Thursday throughout Southern Nevada. Š 2017 Vegas Seven, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without the permission of Vegas Seven, LLC is prohibited.

Publisher

Michael Skenandore Editorial EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Melinda Sheckells MANAGING EDITOR, DINING EDITOR

Genevie Durano SENIOR EDITOR, LIFESTYLE

Jessi C. Acuña ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Mark Adams EDITOR AT LARGE

Lissa Townsend Rodgers EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Shannon Miller EDITORIAL INTERNS

Michaela Chesin, Katie Michaels, Ryan Vellinga, Charlotte Wall, Kiona Wilson Senior Contributing Editor Xania V. Woodman (Beverage) Contributing Editors Michael Green (Politics), David G. Schwartz (Gaming/Hospitality) Art CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Benjamin Ward SENIOR DESIGNER

Cierra Pedro STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Krystal Ramirez Online DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL CONTENT

Zoneil Maharaj WEB EDITORS

Jessie O’Brien, Amber Sampson CONTRIBUTING WRITER, RUNREBS.COM

Tyler Bischoff Production/Distribution DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION

Marc Barrington ADVERTISING MANAGER

Jimmy Bearse Sales BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Christy Corda DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL SALES

Nicole Niazmand ACCOUNT MANAGERS

Brittany Quintana, Mimi Tran ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

Robyn Weiss DIRECTOR OF SALES, BILLBOARD DIVISION

John Tobin

800.274.5825 | thed.com | 301 Fremont Street | Las Vegas, NV 89101

AMPLIFY

YOUR SUMMER!

200 S. 3rd Street Las Vegas, NV 89101 800.745.3000 Get your tickets now at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center Box Office or at DLVEC.com

TO DO

What to do around the clock in Las Vegas

By Jason R. Latham

THURSDAY 13

Does it really get any better than an Elvis festival happening at Sam’s Town Hotel and Gambling Hall this weekend? Images of the King runs through Sunday and features a lineup of tribute artists, exhibitors and (fingers crossed) some really imaginative Elvis cosplay. Performer Dean Z headlines tonight. 4 p.m., ticket prices vary, lasvegaselvisfestival.com The Handmaid’s Tale is a really big deal right now. If you’ve read Margaret Atwood’s book that the hit Hulu show is based on, meet up with fellow fans at tonight’s Genre Book Club meeting at Downtown bookstore The Writer’s Block. 6–7:30 p.m., 1020 Fremont St., thewritersblock.org And Town Square is screening Finding Dory as part of its Movies on the Green series. The free show starts at sundown. 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. South, mytownsquarelasvegas.com FRIDAY 14

You did a nice thing and took the kids to Dory, so now treat yourself to War for the Planet of the Apes.

The second sequel in the rebooted franchise is getting phenomenal reviews, and it opens today. Theaters, showtimes and prices vary, fandango.com Grab a seat for some ridiculous stunts at the USA BMX 2017 Las Vegas Nationals at the South Point Arena. The competition runs through Sunday.

Gates open at 8 a.m., southpointarena.com You’ll never have to eat out again after you’ve finished the Hands-On Cooking BBQ Class at the Springs Preserve. Learn all the secrets from the chefs at Divine Café. Ingredients included! 6:30–9:30 p.m., $80–$89, springspreserve.org

SOS Radio 90.5 is bringing Summer Splash 2017 to Wet ’n’ Wild Las Vegas. Get to the water park early to meet the SOS crew and stick around to see singer Jonny Diaz perform at the Wave Pool Stage. 10 a.m.– 10 p.m. (concert at 7 p.m.), $15–$20, wetnwildlasvegas.com

War for the Planet of the Apes

Remember the 21st night of September when you see

Earth, Wind & Fire at The Pearl inside Palms.

8 p.m., $68–$545, palms.com

And if you remember the aughts, you probably remember P.O.D. The “Youth of the Nation” rockers are playing Brooklyn Bowl. Get out there and pretend it’s the summer of ’02 all over again. 7 p.m., $25–$30, at The Linq Promenade, brooklynbowl.com SATURDAY 15

Learn what motivates successful women and how they overcome challenges in their respective fields at the second annual Women Who Slay event at Red Rock Resort. This year’s panel includes boycottcircus.org founder Jamie Vine, DJ Brittany Sky and T&J Designs cofounders Jennifer Worman and Tiffany Ishiguro.

11 a.m.–3 p.m., $49–$75, womenwhoslay.eventbrite.com The Cannery Casino Hotel invites you to watch MMA fighters wallop each other at the King of the Cage Future Legends 37 amateur show. 6 p.m., $30–$75, cannerycasino.com

Phoenix–based contemporary dance company Scorpius Dance Theatre comes to Las Vegas with a choreographer’s showcase at the Charleston Heights Arts Center. The show features popular and new numbers set to mainstream dance and popular music. 7 p.m., $12–$24, 800 Brush St., scorpiusdance.com See Goo Goo Dolls and American Idol alum Phillip Phillips at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center.

8 p.m., $22–$132, 200 S. Third St., dlvec.com SUNDAY 16

Mandalay Bay is hosting some of the world’s best fighting gamers at the EVO 2017 World Finals tournament. The lineup includes Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros. and Street Fighter V. 8 a.m., $48–$97, mandalaybay.com

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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TO DO

24/7

THE DEAL BY ANTHONY CURTIS

The Heat Brings in Happy Hours

MONDAY 17

Nile Rodgers

It’s Monday Night Karaoke at The Bunkhouse. Go all in with something really random, like ABC’s “When Smokey Sings.” The crowd will never see it coming.

10 p.m., 124 S. 11th St., bunkhousedowntown.com TUESDAY 18

And when you’ve had enough of that gaming, head to House of Blues for Game Grumps Live, an adaptation of the hit web series starring hosts Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan. Don’t leave early or you’ll miss the super-sensual Q&A session. 6 p.m., $21–$31, houseofblues.com Photojournalist, author and two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Barry Sweet is making an appearance at the Corner Gallery inside The Arts Factory. He’ll discuss his work and will hold a signing for guests. 2:30–4:30 p.m., 107 E. Charleston Blvd., Suite 220, lasvegascornergallery.com Palms has outdone itself this weekend. We got Earth, Wind & Fire at the Pearl on Friday, and tonight the resort’s concert theater is bringing in legendary disco act Chic featuring Nile Rodgers. “Everybody Dance,” because these are truly “Good Times.” 8 p.m., $40–$305, palms.com.

Find our interview with Rodgers at vegasseven.com/nilerodgers

Kids like to experiment, and they like to get messy. They can do both at the Mad Science Club event inside the Summerlin Library. It’s geared toward children ages 6 to 11. 4–5 p.m., 1771 Inner Circle Dr., lvccld.org If, after all that, you need a drink, take the family to

Grimaldi’s Pizza. “Tuesday Tastings” gets you half-off

glasses, carafes and bottles of wine (and sangria!). So while the kids eat, you do what you do best. Hours and locations vary, grimaldispizzeria.com/locations

WEDNESDAY 19

Ladies get the star treatment tonight at Wine & Women Wednesdays at the Americana Las Vegas restaurant in Desert Shores. Specials include half off on all bottles of wine and menu items. 6–8 p.m., 2620 Regatta Dr., Suite 118, americanalasvegas.com Finish your drinks in time and you can still catch the show at Downtown Summerlin’s Summer Stage Concert Series. Jeremy Cornwell and Noelle Chiodo are on the bill tonight. 4–8:45 p.m., downtownsummerlin.com Looking for more stuff to do in Las Vegas?

Check out vegasseven.com/calendar.

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July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

SUMMER SUMMONS PLENTY OF DEALS in Las Vegas, as casinos have to work a little harder to bring locals out in 110-degree heat. A crop of interesting happy hours leads the way.

There are two excellent new oyster deals in town. The Black Sheep at 8680 West Warm Springs Road has a $1 oyster happy hour daily from 5–6 p.m. and 10–11 p.m.

Americana Las Vegas at 2620 Regatta Drive runs Oyster Fest Tuesdays, with unlimited oysters for 75 cents each.

Sushi happy hours don’t show up very often, but a good half-price deal is running on Mondays at Crave in Downtown Summerlin. There are four choices—albacore tuna, salmon, shrimp and yellowtail—which you can get as nigiri or sashimi. The nigiri (two pieces of sushi) range from $2.48 to $3.48 and the sashimi (three pieces) is $3.48 to $4.48. Rolls are $4.25 to $8.48.

Join Crave’s loyalty program while you’re there and get $25 off a check of $50 on your next visit, $25 off on your birthday and $50 off on the anniversary of sign-up.

Downtown’s Triple George Grill is running 12 days of 12-hour happy hours (noon–midnight) beginning July 12. Drinks and appetizers will be discounted, and there will be even bigger rewards for people named George, culminating with a 96-ounce porterhouse and free wine for the table if you can assemble three Georges in one party.

Across the street, the Mob Museum has added happy hour pricing Sunday through Thursday after 5 p.m., which amounts to free parking for locals, but drinks at the Museum Bar are half price till 9 p.m.

Griff’s Bar & Billiards on South Decatur Boulevard has a happy hour Monday through Friday from 4–7 p.m., with beers for $2.50 and half-price appetizers. Even more enticing: Buy lunch and get one hour of free pool.

Summer pricing for bowling at Texas Station is $1.50 (per person per game) every day from 8 a.m.–1 p.m. On Thursdays through August 10, it’s just $1, and hot dogs as well as other items at the snack bar are also a buck.

Good locals-only discounts are available for two Strip-located shows this summer. Show your Nevada ID to get a twofer for Fantasy at Luxor and use code LOCALFIT to get 30 percent off BAZ—Star Crossed Love at The Venetian. Both deals run through August 31.

Rampart has a free comedy show on Thursdays at 7 p.m. in Addison’s Lounge.

Bonkerz Comedy runs only about 45 minutes, so it’s not a big investment of time in case the comedians aren’t up to par (it’s hit and miss with low-budget comedy).

This is one of two free comedy shows that play regularly in town. The other is The Dirty, which takes place late nights on Friday inside the Grandview Lounge at South Point Hotel Casino and Spa. 7 Anthony Curtis is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor and lasvegasadvisor.com.

TO DO

Laughter Is Coming

WHAT WE’RE HOPING TO SEE IN THRONES! THE MUSICAL PARODY By Amber Sampson

You gather with friends for the

season premiere of Game of Thrones—chalices full, dragon scale coasters in place, Dothraki fleece draped—when some guy says, “I’ve never seen this.” Those with mercy direct him to Wikipedia, savages beat him with the heaviest book from George R.R. Martin’s anthology that spawned the HBO series and comedians put on Thrones! The Musical Parody.

The stage production, which runs at The Space July 14–23, follows friends as they re-enact all six seasons of the hit show for a newcomer. Spoiler: Nothing is off-limits. “We make fun of all of it: the nerd culture around it, the fans around it, but also the people who haven’t seen it,” says Al Samuels, one of the actors, writers and producers.

While Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow are the focal characters, Thrones! features 52 GoT roles, portrayed by the six-member cast. And with the Season 7 premiere looming, “We’re also going to potentially incorporate some of the things from that week’s episode into the show,” Samuels says.

Thrones! has a whole song about spoilers, so we won’t go too deep. But we will speculate on what we’d like to see parodied. Who knows? Some of these could happen.

Every character’s name: GoT boasts an encyclopedic list of characters. And don’t even get us started on the titles ($10 if you can say Dany’s full name three times fast).

Jon Snow’s resurrection: In one of the most epic GoT scenes, Jon Snow is groomed(!) back to life by the witchy Melisandre. We could see Thrones! re-enacting that painstakingly slow sponge bath with comical accuracy.

The Walk of Atonement: Cersei Lannister walked the cobblestoned, peasant-packed runway of King’s Landing the best. We’re hoping to hear Anita Ward’s “Ring My Bell” when she walks in shame.

The Red Wedding: Could Thrones! take the sting out of this shockingly brutal scene? Stab-solutely. 7

Thrones! The Musical Parody July 14–16, 18–23, 8 p.m., $35–$55, The Space, 3460 Cavaretta Ct., thespacelv.com

5

Speaking of flashy, don’t be surprised to see a man decked out as a beer bottle or nuns with foam fingers walking around. Fans traditionally dress up at these rowdy events, including costumes such as crayons, traffic cones, movie characters and bananas.

THE FINER POINTS

6

The 2016 PDC World Darts Championship final peaked with 1.7 million viewers. For comparison, the NBA averaged 1.19 million total viewers for the season.

The World Series of Darts arrives in Las Vegas. Here’s your cheat guide.

By Charlotte Wall Photography Lawrence Lustig

The Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) is hosting the first-ever World Series of Darts event in the U.S. July 13–15 at Tropicana Las Vegas.

Join darts fans from around the world to watch players face off in a sports environment with such boisterous audience participation that’ll give Raiders die-hards a run for their money. If your knowledge of darts is limited to the bar, here are seven pointers to becoming a darts spectator pro.

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July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

1

“501” is the game played at the PDC World Darts Championship. But this is just one among many “01” games, all of which are played the same way, varying only in the starting scores ranging from 101 to 1001. To win, a player must reach a score of exactly zero before his or her opponent does.

2

A “turn”—or “throw”—is lobbing three darts at the board in a row.

3

Best way to hold a dart?

Keep the tip up, have a relaxed grip, use a finger placement that feels natural and know how much force is required for the size and weight of the dart.

4

Before each match, popular Scottish competitor Peter “Snakebite” Wright’s wife spends three hours painting a snake on the side of his head and dying his Mohawk a vibrant color to match his clothes.

7

Darts stud and Netherlands native Michael van Gerwen won 25 tournaments in 2016, and his career earnings to date nears $6.5 million. Ranked no. 1 in the world, The New York Times recently profiled him, saying, “He’s the Michael Jordan of darts.” So when in doubt, just argue about van Gerwen’s status as the GOAT and don’t back down. 7 $40–$150, Tropicana Las Vegas, pdc.tv/vegas

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7PM — TILL THE PART Y ’S OVER

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WHEN SHE’S BAD, SHE’S BETTER A CONVERSATION WITH CULT MOVIE QUEEN PIA ZADORA, HOLLYWOOD STARLET AND RAT PACK SURVIVOR

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS PHOTOGRAPHY KRYSTAL RAMIREZ This page: Pia Zadora in Downtown Las Vegas.

Opposite, left to right: The Lonely Lady, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians on the cover of Filmfax magazine, Wolfman Jack & Pia Zadora, Pia in her Hairspray hippie drag

IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO GET A KICK OUT OF LIFE, IT’S PIA ZADORA. The singer/actress started in showbiz at age 7 on Broadway, then moved on to Hollywood in her 20s, where she specialized in movies that were widely talked about, if not exactly well-received. Then Zadora remade herself as a serious singer, recording with symphonies and touring with Frank Sinatra.

“Every night before I went onstage, he’d take me by the hand and look me straight in the eye and give me a three-word pep talk: ‘Don’t screw up,’” she recalls.

Today, she performs on weekends at Pia’s Place inside Piero’s, keeping the Rat Pack style alive, but she still looks back fondly—and humorously—on her starlet days. Zadora’s 1983 film The Lonely Lady, an outrageous tale of a screenwriter who “fucked [her] way to the top” in Hollywood, is being rereleased on Blu-ray.

Panned at its debut, the movie has since become a camp classic in the vein of Showgirls. Through marriages, divorces, being a sexpot, being a mother, accidents, heart surgery, fame, infamy, Frank Sinatra and John Waters, Zadora has stayed upbeat. What’s her secret? “Alcohol.

Like, the Piatini, my signature drink [at Piero’s],” she laughs. “One ‘tini makes you happy. Two put you in the mood for love. Three will put you in the drunk tank at Metro.

And after four, you will be bragging about your degree from Trump University.” Zadora spoke to Vegas Seven about Hollywood, Las Vegas and what makes a bad movie good.

(Her responses have been edited for narrative and clarity.)

“It’s coming back to haunt me! But I’m proud of The Lonely Lady, because here it is, over 30 years later, and people are still talking about it.

Think about it: Do you remember who won [the Academy Award for] best picture that year? No. But 33 years later, it’s a cult classic on Bluray. People are not going to forget Lonely Lady.

“I knew that it sucked when we watched dailies—I’m Polish, but I’m not completely stupid. I had my acceptance speech prepared for the Razzies the minute we wrapped, ’cause I knew we were going to get Razziful nominations.

The whole thing was ridiculous. … The director, he was a little unhinged. He came from a horror movie background. And I guess he decided to continue on that route with The Lonely Lady. It was just a combination of elements that came together to make one of the best worst movies ever.

were some scenes that were fun to do. … It was a night shoot, so we shot all night at the Riviera. I was exhausted. And the film was weird.

I hate to say it: It was too good to be campy, but too bad to be good.

“Look, my first film was Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. I didn’t really get off to a good start, you know? People were rooting for the Martians to win! But I was 7 years old, so what the hell? I made good money, and I got to keep the doll.

Then that movie came back to bite me in the neck too, because I don’t think people really would have looked at it twice if it was a normal Christmas movie—so what, Martians? But, whoa, it’s Pia Zadora, the cult queen!

“The truth is, there are two movies that I am proud of. One of them is The Naked Gun 33 1/2 and the other is Hairspray. Naked Gun is a really funny movie. It gave me the chance to make fun of myself, which I love

‘You are going to be a hippie.’ I said, ‘John, I am a sheltered girl from Queens. I don’t know hippie!’

“So he took me to downtown Baltimore. We went to this crazy hippie, weedy shop. He bought me bongos and a getup, and introduced me to Ric Ocasek, and there was Ricki Lake and Divine sitting in the middle of the street in 107 degrees. And we just felt somehow connected, chained together. The funny thing is, my daughter, who is an adult now, was in preschool at the time. When I would go pick her up, all the mothers would say, ‘Our kids are big fans of yours. … They walk around the house saying, ‘Let’s get naked and smoke!’’ Perfect. Now I know I’m never going to be president of the PTA. “I love what I am doing now. I say things happen for the best. If you don’t think that way, you will be institutionalized, because life throws you curves every time you

THAT YEAR, I WAS OFTEN MENTIONED IN THE SAME SENTENCE AS MERYL STREEP. PEOPLE WOULD SAY, “THAT PIA ZADORA, SHE’S NO MERYL STREEP.” “I had the Golden Globe [for new star of the year for 1982’s Butterfly] on my desk at that point. I really didn’t care: No matter how many times they wanted to take it away from me, I’m not giving it back.

That was my little thing, the Golden Globe. And that year, I was often mentioned in the same sentence as Meryl Streep. People would say, ‘That Pia Zadora, she’s no Meryl Streep.’ How many Razzies does she have? [Meryl] won multiple Oscars, but not any Razzies—which is probably why we got called for different parts.

“I made a movie with Telly Savalas. It goes by two names, Fake Out and Nevada Heat. I didn’t really find my footing in that movie. There

to do … in a good way. Hairspray was a whole different animal, because John Waters had done an interview with me for American Film magazine, and we had hit it off. There is a whole chapter of me in John’s book, [Crackpot]. He also asked me to play Deborah Harry’s daughter in Hairspray, but I was touring with Sinatra around the country and I said, ‘John, I would love to do it, but I can’t. But I will come if you want me to do a cameo in a couple of days.’

“So I went to Baltimore. I was between concerts and I said, ‘OK, so, what do you want me to bring?’

He said, ‘Just come.’ I said, ‘Well, what do you mean? I have to, you know, have the right look.’ He said,

turn around. If I had done great with a film career, I wouldn’t be doing what I love the most, which is singing and telling stories.

“I’m really the last living Rat Pack kid—I was a baby when I was with Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and all the guys. I started back in Las Vegas in the ’80s. I was lucky enough to be here when ‘the boys’ ran the town, and now the corporations took over. So I experienced both, two different eras in Las Vegas that I was able to be a part of. Now, I’m with the guys who were with Sinatra, so I do that kind of stuff.

People come here and go, ‘Wow, this is great, this is vintage, there is nothing like this.’ So we are keeping that alive.” 7

HEISTS, HILLBILLIES, HORROR & HELL’S ANGELS 7 VEGAS CULT FILMS

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS SOME TYPES OF FILMS LEND THEMSELVES BETTER TO CULT STATUS THAN OTHERS. A MOVIE ADVERTISED AS “A TRIUMPH OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT” IS UNLIKELY TO WIND UP WITH A BUNCH OF FOLKS RECITING DIALOGUE AND BUYING ACTION FIGURES. BUT IF THAT FLICK INVOLVES MOBSTERS, MONSTERS OR MUSICAL NUMBERS? WELL, THE ODDS JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT BETTER. HERE’S A LOOK AT SOME OF LAS VEGAS’ BEST VERSIONS OF CULT FILM’S FAVORED GENRES.

NOIR THE LAS VEGAS STORY (1952)

The shady characters and neon-lit nights made noir a natural fit for Las Vegas. Before Howard Hughes bought half the town, he made a film here: The Las Vegas Story—or, at least, his RKO Pictures did. The movie concerns newlyweds Jane Russell and Vincent Price on a vacation at the Flamingo, here referred to as “the Fabulous,” and there is some great footage of the spot’s original Bugsy Siegel-era design. Price is a degenerate gambler, Russell runs into her cop ex-boyfriend, Victor Mature, and there are some shenanigans with mobsters and a diamond necklace. The wry, bemused attitude that led to Russell being underrated in her time reads as modern now; Price is younger and more dashing than we remember and gives an ambiguous charm to his conniving husband role, while the thick-haired, big-shouldered Mature reminds us of what mid-century beefcake looked like.

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July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

SCI-FI

MUSICAL

THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (1957)

LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS (1966)

Part of the popular “___ gets huge and wrecks shit” genre popular from the ’50s through the ’70s, The Amazing Colossal Man uses Southern Nevada’s appetite for nuclear testing as an excuse for bigness.

Here, an army colonel gets caught out during an atomic detonation and begins growing … and growing … and growing until he is a 50-foot angry bald dude in a diaper stomping down the Strip.

Our hero peeks into bathrooms on the upper floor of the Riviera towers, gives respect to the sultan of the Dunes and kicks Vegas Vic’s cowboy ass. The Amazing Colossal Man has also achieved that ne plus ultra of good-bad moviedom: being snarked upon in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Light on the Vegas, heavy on hillbillies, Las Vegas Hillbillys is basically a lot of static shots of anonymous country singers earnestly crooning songs you’ve never heard of. What gives this flick its cult clout is the presence of platinum-haired bombshells Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. The ostensible plot is singer Ferlin Husky inheriting a Las Vegas casino, which turns out to be a dive run by a cranky Van Doren. Jayne wanders through, the celebrated Mansfield pulchritude almost fully obscured by vast swaths of pink marabou and lace. Future James Bond menace Richard Kiel also turns up, as does an inexplicable pie fight.

There are some great shots of the Strip, with the Aku Aku and the Thunderbird signage especially luminous. But, beyond that, the sets are laughably just that: crudely painted flats that tremble when someone bumps into them.

COMEDY HISTORY OF THE WORLD, PART I (1981)

Mel Brooks’ gloriously silly survey of human folly naturally has a Vegas moment. In the Ancient Rome segment, Brooks is “stand-up philosopher” Comicus, who gets a gig where else but “in the big room” at Caesars Palace.

Dom DeLuise plays an endlessly Bacchanal-ing Nero and Madeline Kahn is hilarious as his lascivious empress. (Why has her “no, no, yes” harem selection scene not been turned into a Magic Mike routine?) Not only were parts of this sequence shot at the real Caesars, but bits by longtime Strip headliners Shecky Greene and Henny Youngman and references to “Sammus Davius Jr.” add to the Vegas vibe.

HORROR LEPRECHAUN 3 (1995)

With a ré sumé full of Ewoks and assorted endearing characters from Willow to the Harry Potter films, it must be a relief for Warwick Davis to play the nasty-ass protagonist of the Leprechaun horror series. Frankly, it’s a little surprising that it took a franchise based on greedheads and pots of gold until the third installment to get to Sin City. Among the dirty deeds: Egotistical magicians’ tricks blow up in their faces, as does the plastic surgery of vain women (literally, in the latter case). As the psychotic Leprechaun says after encountering an Elvis impersonator—the only person he doesn’t fuck with—”Vegas! It’s my kind of town!” 7

EUROTRASH THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS (1968)

Even if it wasn’t billed as a “Spanish Franco Italian German Co-Production,” the fact that everyone has great haircuts and cool sunglasses would give it away. They Came to Rob Las Vegas is definitely a Euro-vision of America: Freeway overpasses are decorated with posters of old Hollywood westerns (the better to stage a shootout in front of) and the casino interiors look like the pink-black-nouveau sets from Suspiria, but with showgirls cavorting in the background. But it’s still an interestingly plotted, sharp heist flick, with a hip group of thieves going from brilliantly executed plan to boneheaded move and back again. They Came to Rob Las Vegas also offers some of the most glorious prime-era Strip footage on film, as well as some sweet cars and Elke Sommer in fabulous mod outfits.

BIKER HELL’S ANGELS ’69 (1969)

A pair of rich Beverly Hills brothers ingratiate themselves with the Hell’s Angels as part of a plan to knock over Caesars Palace. There are plenty of “hogs rolling down the Strip” scenes, as well as good desert footage; Caesars is at its porte-cochere-and-fountains peak and the authenticity goes even further with the Hell’s Angels played by the Oakland chapter of the Angels, including Maximum Leader Sonny Barger. The avaricious playboys take advantage of how easy it is to switch from Angel to solid citizen and the fact that the cops will always go after the longhairs. Issues of cultural appropriation and police profiling in a piece of drive-in schlock? Who knew?

Opposite: Leprechaun 3 Above: History of the World, Part I; The Amazing Colossal Man

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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CELLULOID CAMP THE ENDURING APPEAL OF THE CULT FILM

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

CULT MOVIES

AREN’T THE MOST POPULAR OR MOST POLISHED FLICKS, BUT THEY’RE THE ONES THAT LAST. THE FILMS PEOPLE WILL WATCH 10 OR 20 TIMES. FANS RECITE THE DIALOGUE, BUY THE DVD AND THE T-SHIRT, MAKE GIFS AND/OR BLOG POSTS AND CITE THEIR LOVE FOR IT AS PART OF FACEBOOK OR TINDER PROFILES. BUT IT’S HARD to say exactly what makes a cult film, because it is the audience, not the producer or director, who bestows that status.

Also, there is no prevalent source or style. Absurdist comedies rife with obscure references and injokes, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Visionary, art-house “what does it mean” surrealism, such as Eraserhead. Action-film fodder for drive-ins and Times Square grindhouses, like Enter the Dragon.

Hollywood products that have overblown into glitzy melodrama elephantiasis, à la Valley of the Dolls.

The cult films that come out of the conventional movie industry usually develop followings through camp. Mommie Dearest was originally intended to be a serious biopic that could win Faye Dunaway another Oscar, but, once a few early screenings provoked more laughter than tears, the ad campaign was redone with “No wire hangers … ever!” right on the poster. Then, of course, there’s Showgirls, which had a top director as well as a $3.7 million script and was resoundingly reviled upon release. After losing money and winning Razzie Awards, someone had the sense to organize midnight screenings with drag queens, and a cult was born.

The midnight movie more commonly springs from the underground, from a director/writer/ producer with a distinct vision and the will to pull it off. David Lynch has become an institution and an adjective through his blending of the banal and the bizarre. John Waters created an entire universe with a rigorous aesthetic of bad taste and a comedic flair that went past eccentric to demented—all presided over by Divine, perhaps the greatest cult actor of them all.

To top Divine as a drag queen or as a movie star, you’d have to go to RuPaul or Elizabeth Taylor.

Opposite: Divine and John Waters.

This page: Eraserhead; Mommie Dearest swag.

THE STARS OF cult film are something of a species all their own. Sure, some are actors on their way up or down in Hollywood, but many remain midnight-movie staples. Tura Satana’s malevolent performance as a bodacious bad girl in Russ Meyer’s classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! should have led to a career pointing sharp objects at Sean Connery or Clint Eastwood. Pam Grier’s star quality is indisputable—a blend of beauty and authority that makes it impossible to look away from her when she’s on screen.

Yet, while she made Coffy and Foxy Brown blaxploitation classics, she never got the big-budget roles.

Bruce Campbell’s arrogant yet likable persona and ability to launch snarky comments while kicking ass powered Evil Dead and Army of Darkness; countless younger, bigger stars have emulated his swagger, but none have done it better.

NOT EVERY CULT film is so-badit’s-good. Roger Ebert wrote of one memorable, low-budget noir, “Detour is a movie so filled with imperfections that it would not earn the director a passing grade in film school,” yet he included it in his collection, The Great Movies.

Pauline Kael compared the New York City street-gang epic The Warriors to the work of Akira Kurosawa and D.W. Griffith.

And, of course, the sound, image and style of cult films are appropriated in other works. You may not have seen Tura Satana in Faster Pussycat, but you’ve likely seen Janet Jackson or the Spice Girls imitate her performance.

You may not have watched The Night of the Hunter (and you should!), but you already recognize the widely stolen shot of a drowned Shelley Winters, hair floating amongst the weeds, and noticed countless rip-offs of the “LOVE” and “HATE” knuckle tattoos on Robert Mitchum’s psychotic preacher. Seemingly half the dialogue from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was lifted directly from Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

BUT THERE SEEM to be fewer cult films made these days, despite some deliberate attempts to create them. Snakes on a Plane, with its outrageous plot and quotable catchphrase, aimed for the mark, but missed. Cult movies must find their own audiences, and who is going to allow that in our era of market research, audience metrics and social media campaigns? And, of course, the focus now is on getting everyone’s attention for five minutes, rather than getting five people’s lifelong devotion. Add in the fact that availability of everything on YouTube/Amazon/Netflix has eliminated the white whale

hunts for a screening of Chelsea Girls or a VHS bootleg tape of Who Killed Teddy Bear, the swapping of tales about half-remembered, late-night weirdness: “Did you ever see this movie that …?” It’s all unnecessary now, and that which is no longer rare often doesn’t seem as valuable.

FINALLY, CONSIDER what John Waters wrote in his 1981 book, Shock Value: “I’ve always tried to please and satisfy an audience that thinks they’ve seen everything.” Now that everything can be seen with a few clicks and swipes, it’s quite possible people have seen everything. Or think they have. 7

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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Opposite, clockwise from top right: The Astro-Zombies poster, The Doll Squad still, Liz Renay, still from The Astro-Zombies This page: Tura Satana and John Carradine in The Astro-Zombies

KING OF THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES! FILMMAKER TED V. MIKELS HAD A VISION ALL HIS OWN

BY LISSA TOWNSEND RODGERS

FILMMAKING

is the most collaborative of arts. One cannot simply sit down alone with a pencil or a guitar or a paintbrush and emerge with a finished product. Even a minor short film involves time, money, equipment, locations and manpower. It takes dedication and a willingness to work endless hours as a jack-of-all-trades in a state of constant crisis.

That kind of dedication powered filmmaker Ted V. Mikels, who once said he’d like to be remembered as “a hell of a filmmaker who did 28 hours a day, 10 days a week toward the making of films.” Mikels directed 25 movies over the course of five decades, from 1963’s Strike Me Deadly to 2015’s Paranormal Extremes: Text Messages from the Dead, spending the last 30-odd years of his life living and making movies in Las Vegas, where he passed away last year at the age of 87.

“He gave his all for the movies,” says Troy Heard, director of the Majestic Repertory Theater. Heard’s first exposure to Mikels’ work wasn’t onscreen: “I had a Corpse Grinders T-shirt as an undergrad.” But by the time he took a film class in graduate school, he’d become a fan. “For my final, I decided to interview Ted V. and get his words of wisdom.” Mikels responded to an interview request with “five single-spaced pages, his manifesto about independent filmmaking, basically saying ‘Fuck Hollywood. Do it yourself.’ I got an A.” “I went to his studio, TVM Studios, on Ali Baba Lane, all full of his props and everything, and we just hit it off. But then I realized, he hit it off with everybody,” Heard recalls. “I asked him about doing a musical version of The Corpse Grinders and we signed the contract then and there.” Heard still holds the rights and hopes to stage the project someday. “I have to. Especially now.

We were talking about it right until the end.”

MOST OF Mikels’ films were in the exploitation vein, such as Girl in Gold Boots (1968), the seedy saga of an L.A. go-go dancer and the creeps she meets—the shots of Hollywood Boulevard and the Haunted House go-go club are a time capsule of ’60s sleaze. The Doll Squad (1973) had babes in bikinis saving the world from peril (Mikels always felt that Charlie’s Angels had lifted ideas from him, down to naming one of the women Sabrina). But his best-known movies are weird takes on horror: The Corpse Grinders (1971) and The Astro-Zombies (1968). The Corpse

Grinders is a sweet little tale of a machine that turns people into cat food. ”His ideas were great, but sometimes you had to be on hallucinogens to make it all the way through,” says Heard. “It’s outsider art. I fucking love it.”

THE PLOT of The Astro-Zombies was basically Frankenstein, zombies, aliens and spies thrown into a blender. John Carradine appears as a mad doctor (with a hunchback assistant) who creates the zombies. Tura Satana is an enemy agent trying to seize control of the zombies, while a bunch of guys with short hair and suits try to stop them all. It cost $37,000 to make and eventually made about $3 million, as well as inspiring an eponymous Misfits song, the true mark of horror cult status.

Mikels made three sequels to Astro-Zombies, starting with 2002’s Mark of the Astro Zombies. “We worked 12 hours a day for two months,” says Christy Larson, who contributed to sets and effects for the film, as well as acting in it. “I was the only female Astro-Zombie,” she says proudly. On low-budget films, everyone pitches in whenever something needs to be done—grips become extras, actors become prop masters, cameramen become caterers, everyone does whatever is necessary to keep the film rolling. Larson handled effects and played both a zombie and a victim in different scenes, while Heard helped with locations and did a bit as a military adviser. “I had three lines,” he says.

“He was kind of the Roger Corman of Las Vegas,” Heard recalls. “He gave a lot of local filmmakers their start.” But it wasn’t just kids on their way up who Mikels recruited. His last two films featured Las Vegas legend Liz Renay, who never crossed a screen without dragging her burlesque queen/mob moll backstory behind her like a mink coat. Something of an underground film icon, Renay also starred in Ray Dennis Steckler’s The Thrill Killers and most famously in John Waters’ Desperate Living. Cult star Tura Satana also returned to the screen in Mark of the Astro-Zombies.

HEARD SAYS Mikels’ dedication and get-it-done spirit inspires him today.

“When you have a project, you do whatever you have to do. How do you get the show up? How do you get the film wrapped?” Larson agrees. “Every day was fun, no matter how fucking long it was,” she says of her time working with Mikels. “It was a gift. And everyone was happy to be there.” 7

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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ONE BITE

TASTE

Summer Eatin’

There’sanembarrassmentofricheswhenitcomestogreatfoodinourcity,andBanditoLatinKitchenandCantina(325HughesCenterDr., banditolv.com) is the newest addition to the Latin American cuisine scene, offering a modern gathering spot for fresh eats and drinks. Helmed by executive chef Chris Kight, there’s an emphasis on Mexican food, and tequila and mezcal feature prominently in the cocktail program.

With tortillas, salsa and sauces made daily and using sustainably sourced ingredients, it’s difficult to pick favorites from the menu that evokes a seaside vacation or an endless summer day. We suggest a plate of tacos ($17–$21) to start. The lunch menu offers two per order and the dinner menu offers three. Choose from six options—carne asada (with queso fresco, pickled onion and cilantro), roasted chicken (with heirloom tomatoes, tinga sauce and shallots), carnitas (with bitter orange glaze, white onion and cilantro), braised octopus (with pickled fennel, avocado and radish), al pastor (with Manchego cheese, white onion and pineapple) and Baja fish (white fish grilled or fried, cabbage, carrots, citrus, Fresno peppers and serrano vinaigrette). This is just to whet the appetite, mind you. You’ll be back throughout the season and beyond. –Genevie Durano

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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TASTE

EATING OUR FEELINGS Comfort food that’s good for you?

We’ll take a second helping, please.

By Marisa Finetti Photography Krystal Ramirez

C

omfort food is a universal language spoken across cultures. While the particulars vary, its primary function is to evoke the happiest memories we have of eating, dating all the way back to childhood. Whether mac ’n’ cheese, chicken soup or doughnuts suit your fancy, we’ve found five variations on what we consider comfort foods with a healthy twist. No sign of a guilt trip here.

Big B’s Texas BBQ

Can Texas-style barbecue be healthier than other styles?

Natalia Badzjo and Brian Buechner of Big B’s Texas BBQ say this is so. They explain that true Texas barbecue is not injected with flavorings or flavor enhancers such as MSG, nor is it slathered in sauce. It is simply given a generous treatment of house dry rub, then smoked. The simplicity of Texas barbecue can be enjoyed many ways at Big B’s, such as with the smoked turkey, lean brisket or tri-tip, to name a few. The rub is all that is needed to impart flavor and tenderness, but a choice of sauces is always available. Need more proof that you’re “carving” out a healthy lifestyle with Texas barbecue?

Plenty of athletes partake in all the protein deliciousness after a workout. 3019 St. Rose Pkwy., Suite 130, bigbztexasbbq.com

Momofuku Las Vegas

Left: Tri-tip, brisket, turkey and chicken from Big B’s BBQ. Right: Eatt’s Praline Cream Puff.

Noodles are another addictive pleasure food, whether it be pad Thai or ramen. For those who like the idea that less is more, Momofuku’s Ginger Scallion Noodles also delivers in this regard. The ramen noodles are tossed in a sauce consisting of a marinade of chopped scallions, ginger, oil, soy, vinegar and salt. Imagine all the healing and fat-burning properties of ginger and scallions at work! Topped with pickled shiitake, cucumber and wakame, the dish is a delight.

In The Cosmopolitan, cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

Estiatorio Milos

Fried foods are addictive and delicious. Who the heck wants to eliminate them from the comfort-food category?

Certainly not Estiatorio Milos, but they’ve found a way to make people who find chips to be their guilty pleasure feel not so guilty. The Milos Special is made of thinly sliced eggplant and zucchini that’s lightly fried. Piled high with vegetables upon vegetables, it’s like eating (veggie) chips out of a bag. Additionally, it is served with house-made tzatziki, a seemingly sinful yet healthy accompaniment for dipping, which sure beats the standard sour cream and onion dip.

In the Cosmopolitan, cosmopolitanlasvegas.com

Eatt

When dessert cravings come a-knocking, a cream puff is just the answer. And never just one. The Paris-Brest is a French treat said to have been created by a pastry chef in honor of a bicycle race between the cities of Paris and Brest. Eatt, a gourmet bistro specializing in healthy indulgences, offers this dessert, calling it the Praline Cream Puff, a choux puff filled with a light hazelnut cream. The trick here is that the chef uses 75 percent less butter and 66 percent less sugar.

You’d never know after the first bite—thus the need for many more after. 7865 W. Sahara Ave., eattfood.com 7

CRAFTKitchen

Instead of mashed potatoes with butter, savor the soft potato puree topped with “pats” of quinoa cake. That’s what Chef Jaret Blinn’s CRAFTKitchen in Henderson puts together for a fresh and hearty dish called the Farmers Market Stack. It happens to be the restaurant’s top-selling vegetarian dish, and we can see and taste why. The vegetarian, gluten-free offering features a soft quinoa cake, which gently sits on a puree of potato, finished with roasted farmers market veggies and cherub tomatoes. Opt to add an egg for breakfast. The cake is made with organic red quinoa, bound with cooked white polenta and seasonal roasted vegetables. 10940 S. Eastern Ave., craftkitchenlv.com

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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SOCIAL INFLUENCE

The New Tastemakers Tech startup Influential capitalizes on the social media influencer-marketing trend

By Misti Yang

A

struggling Los Angeles comedian, his PR-savvy brother and a UNLV computer-science whiz make an unlikely business trio. But that happens to be the team behind Influential, a startup that uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology to connect social media personalities with brands interested in promoting their goods online.

The practice is known as influencer marketing.

And Influential, which has already raised $14 million from investors and employs a team of 34 in Las Vegas since opening shop in 2014, is quickly becoming an industry leader in the digital advertising trend.

“I was a wannabe comedian and wasn’t very funny onstage, but I was very funny on Twitter,” says Ryan Detert, founder and CEO of Influential. After moving to Los Angeles in 2007 to work at his brother Chris’ public relations firm while perfecting his comedy, Ryan started accounts on Twitter, parodying everyone from President Obama to Santa Claus, and amassed hundreds of thousands of followers. He realized that brands were willing to pay him to post sponsored content to his social media feeds, but with the accounts he had, he couldn’t promote much more than Christmas trees.

So, he started acquiring more marketable Twitter and Instagram handles such as @automotive and @travel. With a lineup of accounts, Ryan says, he grew his followers to 30 million.

When approaching brands for advertising partnerships (for example, reaching out to Marriott to sponsor posts for @travel), Ryan realized these companies were also interested in reaching other influencers’ social media accounts, but there was no organized way to do so.

“In 2013, I ran a few campaigns without technology, and I saw the amount of money we could potentially make. But I also saw the amount of headache it was causing,” Ryan says. He was coordinating campaigns primarily through text messaging, telling the influencers what to post. To simplify the process, Ryan contracted Piotr Tomasik, a UNLV grad and locally based software engineer, to create the first Influential app in 2014. Ryan told Tomasik, “I wish I could just push ‘Notify [influencers]’ with a cash register sound—‘Kaching!’—and they would respond back to me.”

Tomasik answered the call. That same year, Chris joined to oversee marketing.

Today the Influential app still rings out “Kaching!” when there’s a new influencer campaign, but the technology is more complex.

Influential is now able to identify influencers who not only fit a certain demographic and personality but also have not spoken negatively of the brand in the past. The company does this with the help of its developer partner, known as IBM Watson.

“Are you familiar when Watson won Jeopardy!?” asks Tomasik, now Influential’s chief technology officer. “It’s not that,” but the idea is similar. Watson is a collection of computer programs that processes human language and understands, reasons and learns from a wide range of data. For Influential, Watson starts by analyzing every piece of content a person has ever posted to social media to find the best influencer for a brand based on personality, demographics and context. As campaigns run, Watson’s AI continues to learn who makes an ideal influencer for a brand by incorporating feedback on results. Influencers are not the Kardashians of the world, who actually have low engagement, according to Ryan, but folks such as Chloe Lukasiak (@chloelukasiak), who was one of the dancers on the reality show Dance Moms.

The results have led the founding trio to exciting places, from Mike Tyson’s old mansion (their first Vegas office) to this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where Ryan and Chris met with potential clients. One of their most successful campaigns was for Kia. Ryan notes, “We were seeing posts from our influencers that were tagged ‘#ad’ outperform organic content [that was not paid for] by a considerable factor. It was the equivalent of consumers watching TV and fast-forwarding to commercials.”

And, as more companies look to influencer marketing as an advertising strategy, Influential plans to make its technology available for smaller companies. “We are always hiring more developers. If you have a background in tech and development, we are trying to bring on more people in Vegas and get paid,” Ryan says.

Kaching! 7 Learn more about influencer campaigns and the guys at influential.co/.

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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SOCIAL INFLUENCE

POLITICS

By Michael Green

Straight to Heller ARE THE ENEMIES ON THE RIGHT THE RIGHT ENEMIES TO HAVE?

D

ean Heller has irked Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn.

What remains to be seen is whether that’s good news or bad news for him.

The New York Times reports the two casino magnates called the GOP senator from Nevada at the White House’s request to register their displeasure. They’re unhappy with his opposition to Mitch McConnell’s effort to kill anyone making less than a million a year or with a disability—uh, that is, the “replacement” for Obamacare. “One ally of Mr. Heller’s acknowledged that Mr. Adelson and Mr. Wynn were unhappy with the senator at the moment and that their relationship needed some repair work,” The Times reported.

Heller’s possibly momentary abandonment of the distant right (far right doesn’t go far enough) inspired Danny Tarkanian to investigate a primary challenge. Since we can’t go through an election cycle without Tarkanian running for something, he might as well face Heller.

Heller’s between a rock and a hard place. In Ely, one constituent yelled at him to get behind the president while another thanked him for saving her health care. Those responses pretty well cover the position he’s in. But while Heller has no one to blame but himself and his party, he shouldn’t feel lonely. Politicians have a way of offending people around them, for good and ill.

Consider Pat McCarran, Nevada’s second most powerful U.S. senator ever (more on No. 1 below). He teed off George Wingfield, who owned many of Nevada’s major mines, banks and hotels—in other words, he was Adelson and Wynn combined with Barrick Gold and Chase. And McCarran went further than Heller: He represented Wingfield’s wife in a divorce case that publicized ol’ George suffered from syphilis, then attacked his efforts to break a miners’ strike and his railroading of union organizers, then ran for office against a Wingfield favorite.

Wingfield did his best and worst to keep McCarran from winning the office he most wanted—the one Heller holds. But McCarran hurt himself far more by refusing to play along with fellow Democrats. Ultimately, he won that Senate seat, thanks to Wingfield’s empire going under during the Great Depression and voters preferring McCarran to the alternative.

As for power numero uno, Harry Reid had the audacity to help rural Nevadans get a national park some of its denizens claimed not to want, and a water settlement that benefited numerous residents and millions of acres of wilderness areas, as well as save Ely’s small regional airport. For all of this, most rural Nevadans have hated him forever and ever, amen. But Reid did what he thought was right and probably figured he wasn’t going to harvest a lot of votes from that part of Nevada, anyway.

Then there’s the matter of how much influence Adelson and Wynn would actually have—especially if they decided to support Tarkanian against Heller. Or, if Heller won the primary, the Democrat in the general election (and neither of them is likely to back any Democrat).

After McCarran died in office in 1954, his big-money supporters— led by the developer Norman Biltz and the lobbyist John Mueller— decided Democrats would nominate Reno lawyer Bill Cashill for the

seat. While they sat in Biltz’s home and plotted how to move their pawns around the board, Alan Bible and his allies went around the state and locked up party leaders’ support and the nomination. Bible won, served for 20 years and did both of the big-money men a great deal of good. He also helped Southern Nevada get the water it needed to grow and, behind the scenes, he helped pass important environmental legislation. Cashill might have been a great U.S. senator, but Bible understood who did the voting.

Similarly, in 1998, Kenny Guinn won the governorship in what political maven Jon Ralston correctly called an “anointment.” But Guinn inevitably made several rookie mistakes and his campaign could have gone south a few times. Brian Sandoval had more political experience when his own gubernatorial anointment came in 2010, but, lest we forget, both he and Guinn benefited from the Democratic theory (referenced in the June 29 column in this space) that just because they’re Republicans doesn’t mean they’re unreasonable. It helped Sandoval that some Nevadans did having two Reids on the ballot at the same time (Rory, a county commissioner, opposed Sandoval), and that he’s a Northern Nevadan, meaning some Northern Democratic votes were going to go his way simply on geographic grounds.

One constituent yelled at him to get behind the president, while another thanked him for saving her health care.

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Or as my late dear friend Ralph Denton, the longtime attorney and activist who related the story about Bible and Cashill, said, “We have people like that in Nevada now, who sit around, pat each other on the back, and convince each other they know how to handle what’s going on. They forget a couple million people out there aren’t privy to their conversations.”

None of this means Heller isn’t in trouble. He may well be, although a lot of time and legislation await. Adelson and Wynn may decide they can more easily control Tarkanian or some other candidate. Whether they or anyone else can control the voting population is another matter entirely. 7 Michael Green is an associate professor of history at UNLV.

AWAY MESSAGE

SPACES & PLACES

Island Time With more than 7,000 islands making up the Philippines, paradise is just a boat ride away.

Photographer Anthony Mair explores the crown jewel of Southeast Asia and captures its diverse beauty—from urban centers and colorful neighborhoods to pristine beaches.

By Genevie Durano Photography Anthony Mair

Top: Nami Resort in Boracay Island, about 300 miles from the Philippine capital of Manila.

Left: A sunset in Boracay.

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

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SPACES SPACES&&PLACES PLACES

AWAY MESSAGE

First row, from left: A case of San Miguel, the official beer of the Philippines, is de rigueur for any outing, by land or by sea; roadside markets and fruit stands dot many neighborhoods; hanging out with the neighbors; a stretch of deserted beach in the early-morning light; a natural perch for locals who take tourists on boat rides all around the islands.

Second row, from left: Mair’s son, Hayden, enjoying a beverage at Jonah’s Milkshakes, a neighborhood eatery; finding a refuge from the heat at Tom n Tom’s Coffee, where the view from the top offers some shade; modern homes that have sprung up on the hillsides; mopeds are the vehicle of choice for navigating narrow city streets, allowing bikers to snake in and out of traffic with ease.

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SPACES & PLACES

Third row, from left: Manila, the capital, is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with almost 15,000 people in one square kilometer, according to a U.N. Habitat data; the SM Mall of Asia Eye Ferris wheel in Pasay City; a bustling fish market, where the fruits of the sea—the heart and blood of this island nation—are sold.

Fourth row, from left: A young boy selling mangoes at the beach is a common sight in the Philippines, where children as young as 4 contribute to their family’s income; cars in funky colors roam city streets; street food is abundant, where local delicacies such as pig’s ear and chicken and beef intestines are on offer.

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DO GOOD

CONVERSATIONS

Time is Nothing MYLENE DELAIRE PULLS FROM PERSONAL EXPEREINCES TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT EPILEPSY

By Michael Lyle Photography Krystal Ramirez

W

hen Mylene Delaire comes to after a seizure, she doesn’t recognize anything around her. She doesn’t know her family and friends from strangers, where she is or even the date.

“It’s like you’ve time-traveled and you’re waking up in a new location,” says Delaire, who has epilepsy. “You don’t know what’s going on.”

She remembers a few years back, watching The Time Traveler’s Wife, which follows a man who jumps through time at random and without control. In the movie, the doctor looks at his brain activity during an episode and says it’s similar to a seizure.

Fast-forward to 2013: Delaire remembered that scene when she decided to create a nonprofit that educates people about the disorder and helps connect others suffering from seizures to resources.

She named it the Time Travelers Foundation.

Delaire was born and raised in France. When she was 16, she was diagnosed with epilepsy after having a seizure, her second, on Halloween night.

People around her didn’t understand what was happening. “There wasn’t a [French] word for seizure,” she says. “People called it a crisis. You would have an epileptic crisis.”

Also, she says people associated it with mental illness as opposed to a neurological disorder. The condition and the lack of understanding in her community surrounding it left her depressed.

Delaire moved to the United States to start a new life and escape some of the social stigma she faced at home. At age 19, she arrived in Boston in 2005 (inspired by the television show Ally McBeal) and then Las Vegas in 2012. She continued to consult with doctors and get treatment and has gone through multiple types of medication. During this time, she was having more and more seizures where she would wake up on the cold tile floor of a restaurant bathroom or in some public place with what felt like a million eyes watching her.

“But I never felt ashamed,” she says.

Her condition also led to many losses: various jobs and even her driver’s license, which restricted her independence. She was recently able to regain it.

“If you have to call out of work because you had a seizure, your boss might be understanding the first time,” Delaire says. “But after the second, third or fourth time, that’s not really the case.” While the disorder isn’t grounds to get someone fired, she adds that constantly missing work could be. One day in May 2013, she left her third-floor apartment to take out the trash, and bam! A seizure hit, sending her crashing down the stairs.

Delaire survived with a broken jaw and stitches on her chin.

It was then when she decided to start a nonprofit to provide resources to people with epilepsy as well as other seizure disorders.

“People don’t realize that with MS, you can also have seizures,” says Steve Guzman, one of the board members who has multiple sclerosis. “I didn’t realize until I had one in 2012. I was able to talk with Mylene about it.”

Guzman, who had experience working with nonprofits, has helped Delaire start the foundation, giving her tips along the way.

“There are going to be times when it looks like the organization isn’t progressing the way you want it,” he says. “As long as your heart is in it,

Time Travelers Foundation is the featured organization at monthly benefit show Mondays Dark at The Space on July 24.

Tickets start at $20. mondaysdark.com

everything will work out.”

Time Travelers Foundation currently provides resources such as information on nutrition and different medications and their interactions. Members of the organization—there are currently six active members—have also set up booths at various events such as First Friday to get the word out.

Delaire says they are still finding their footing but she sees the future and it will include support groups, conventions centered around epilepsy and seizure disorders, and access to financial resources so those affected can afford alert dogs.

“I don’t want to rush anything,” she says. “This will all happen on its own time.”

This year, the foundation took steps toward a major goal: to be able to provide scholarships to students who suffer from epilepsy or even students who plan to study neurology. The nonprofit is partnering with Touro University to make this happen.

No matter what the organization grows into, Delaire says one of her top goals is to decrease stigma and shame.

“When you have a disability, you have to own it,” she says. “You have to accept it and move on. This has made me who I am.” 7

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

39

ASK A NATIVE

CONVERSATIONS

What Makes Vegas Vegas?

Giant Lo bste rs an d Nake d B i ke rs.

What ever happened to the Strip restaurant that used a guy holding a giant lobster as an advertisement?

A

h, those old Vegas days, when local restaurateurs could make a mark (and a good living) long before the celeb chefs and the chain brands wrangled control of Strip mealtimes.

One of the last holdouts was Alan LeWinter and his brother Kevin. They operated the Rosewood Grille, an expense-account restaurant whose iconic “giant lobster” advertising permeated tourist guides and bus-stop ads from the early 1990s to the early 2000s. It was located in a storied center-Strip building next to the Kit Carson Motel.

Back in the day, the location was home to Villa Venice (1946), reportedly the first Italian restaurant in Las Vegas.

A fire destroyed the original building, but it was rebuilt and the restaurant reopened in 1953, quickly becoming the in-spot on the Strip. “When we visited the place,” gushed Jack Cortez, founder of Fabulous Las Vegas magazine, “it seemed that everyone in Las Vegas was there, and it brought back the wonderful feeling of years ago when you’d see friends at any spot.” We hear you, Jack.

As is the nature of Las Vegas, by the 1960s, the storied spot had become the Black Forest Bavarian Restaurant, and later, the lobsterfamous Rosewood Grille. By 2001, the property was surrounded on three sides by the towering Venetian. The LeWinters, in a classic Vegas move, received Clark County Zoning Board approval to build a 61,000-square-foot, nine-story retail plaza on the property.

Unsurprisingly, by 2004, the Venetian had apparently made Former Las Vegan Jimmy Kimmel recently offered Wyoming high school an offer the LeWinters graduate Peter Butera—whose off-script valedictorian commencement couldn’t refuse. Today? speech was cut short by nervous school administrators—the opportunity to It’s a Walgreens. finish said speech live on Kimmel’s late-night show. After Butera completed the speech, Kimmel, who graduated from Ed W. Clark High School (my alma mater), offhandedly noted that a kid in his high school once “rode through graduation on a motorcycle naked” and didn’t get in as much trouble as Butera did. While I do indeed remember a story about a senior-class prankster riding his dirt bike naked through the school, I couldn’t uncover any corroboration to the story. Have any? Send it to me via the email below, or tweet me at @authenticvegas.

Have a question or comment about Las Vegas past, present or future? Send them to askanative@vegasseven.com.

40

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF GRAHAM C99/FLICKR

Riders on the Quad

®

CONVERSATIONS

LUCKY NO. 7

We asked the WENDOH Media staff:

What is your favorite cult movie?

“The 1979 film The Warriors. My dad let me stay up late one night and we watched it. I was probably around 10 years old. Since then, I have never been able to turn it off when I come across it on the tube. ‘Warriors! Come out to play-ay!’” –Kara Dennis, payroll/human resources manager “The Room, directed by Tommy Wiseau. It’s the worst movie ever made—so bad that it has a 32 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

There’s nothing better than telling your friends it’s the greatest movie ever and later getting a text at 1 a.m. saying, ‘I just wasted an hour of my life watching this stupid movie.’”

–Ryan Vellinga, editorial intern

42

July 13–19, 2017 vegasseven.com

“Fight Club. I would tell you why it’s my favorite, but I’m not supposed to talk about it.” –Darren Flores, lead editor, Critical Focus “True Romance. Not only does the 1993 Quentin Tarantino–scripted movie feature everyone from Gary Oldman as a rasta pimp to Brad Pitt as a stoner on the couch—there’s a lot of screen time for Patricia Arquette’s perfectly imperfect teeth, too—but Samuel L. Jackson also delivers one of the greatest lines in the history of film. Watch it to find out.” –Zoneil Maharaj, director of digital content

“Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Not only does it brilliantly portray what can happen when one is alone with his or her thoughts, vulnerabilities and paranoia, but it also spawned a cult following that produced films about the movie. Some analyze The Shining with a fine-tooth comb typically taken to the Zapruder film of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

The documentary Room 237 explores possible subliminal meanings and theories that fans believe are tucked beneath The Shining’s iconic carpet pattern that may or may not resemble Apollo 11’s NASA launchpad at Cape Canaveral—and that Kubrick may or may not have been hired to fake that mission’s 1969 moon landing.”

–Charlotte Wall, editorial intern

“Army of Darkness, because of Bruce Campbell’s chainsaw arm and chin.”

–Jessie O’Brien, web editor “Big Trouble in Little China is one of my absolute favorites. Directed by the master of horror, John Carpenter, this 1986 treasure features Kurt Russell kicking evil sorcerer ass in San Francisco’s Chinatown. A martial arts masterpiece, Big Trouble puts action on a pedestal. I still watch it every chance I get.” –Amber Sampson, web editor

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