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Watch as alcohol does good. Mixologist and UltimateBarChef.com co-owner Sean Bigley will mix up the five finalists’ recipes in the first-ever Ultimate Cocktail for a Cure mixology competition. Proceeds from the charity event will be donated to Y-ME (www.y-me.org), an organization that puts aid directly into the hands of those affected by breast cancer. The final throwdown will be held at the Downtown Cocktail Room on Saturday, August 11, from 7-9 p.m., with the Modern Mixologist, Tony Abou-Ganim, acting as master of ceremonies for an all-female panel of expert judges and the sexy and talented DJ 88. $20 suggested donation.
2
See Dio, er Dios ... Malos. Ronnie James Dio brings Heaven and Hell, his retro Black Sabbath project, to town in October, but we wouldn’t be entirely surprised to see him lurking in the alley adjacent to the Beauty Bar’s outdoor stage on Saturday. After all, Dio has exhibited some peculiar behavior toward the band atop that night’s bill, like, oh, filing a cease-and-desist order over that So-Cal outfit’s original name, Dios. Good thing too, or else hordes of mulleted hair-metalers might have accidentally been exposed to Dios Malos’ (yeah, that’s what they’re called now) sunny, Beach Boys-inspired pop tunes. Good looking out, Ronnie. With The Wildbirds, The Modlins, The Vulcan Freedom Fighters. Saturday, August 11, 9 p.m., $8. Beauty Bar, 598-1965.
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Chip in. Yet another opportunity to take advantage of living in Las Vegas: Poker legend Phil Gordon will host the Stacks ’n’ Racks poker tournament at Fitzgerald’s Hotel and Casino on Sunday, August 12, with a buy-in of $200. Prizes come courtesy of Spearmint Rhino, Michael E. Minden Jewelers and KOMP 92.3-FM. First place will receive $5,000 and a 2007 Rebel 250 Honda motorcycle. Second, a trip for two to Hawaii. Third, concert tickets to the House of Blues for a year. Tournament begins at noon. Sign up at Fitzgerald’s Poker Room or call 388-2400.
4
Read something. His first book, Neuromancer, envisioned the Internet and popularized the cyberpunk sci-fi genre, which he subsequently outgrew with each novel. Now William Gibson is back with Spook Country (Putnam, $25.95, hitting shelves this week), a tense political thriller set in the present and featuring shadowy operatives and hidden criminals, marginal cultures and global-positioning technology, fear and paranoia. It’s billed as fiction, but ...
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Treat your eyeballs. Las Vegas isn’t what you’d call an impoverished visual environment—pretty much everywhere you point your eyes there’s something worth seeing. Still: You should make the effort to look at art, in galleries. Allow us to suggest Fulmer & Kuzmickas: Paintings, Sculpture and Photography, showing now through September 23 at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center. Whether it’s Darius Kuzmickas’ pinhole-camera work or Jeff Fulmer’s biology-inspired sculpture, the show answers the big question—Why should I visit a gallery when I can see weird, spazzy visuals everywhere?—with careful, deliberate, skillful art. 821 Las Vegas Blvd. N., 229-1012.
