1.
See giants fly. The last time Kobe Bryant set foot on the Thomas & Mack Center court, he scored seven points—capped by a game-winning jumper—over the final two minutes of Team USA’s July 22 intrasquad contest. Call us crazy, but we’ve got a feeling the Laker guard has more heroics in store as he tries to lead his squad to one of the top two spots at this week’s FIBA Americas Championship and, with that, a berth in next summer’s Olympic Games. Oh yeah, and some guys named LeBron, Carmelo and Amare will be in the house, too. Through September 2, multiple games daily, $10-$100 individual games, $149-$299 full session. Thomas & Mack Center, 739-3267.
2.
Celebrate a united Downtown. Mayor Oscar Goodman and other local dignitaries will officially dedicate and oversee the lighting of four retro-style neon signs at 7:45 p.m. Friday, August 24, thus inaugurating the $5.5 million Fremont East effort to revitalize the Downtown streetscape. Fremont Street will be shut down for a block party which will extend from Las Vegas Boulevard to 7th Street and feature live music beginning at 7 p.m. by band Rated TG and singers Versatile and Scola (formerly of the group Dru Hill). Local businesses such as Hennessey’s and Streamline Tower will provide concessions and a VIP Lounge.
3.
Support local filmmaking. The latest in the Winchester Cultural Center’s monthly FLIC series spotlighting local films features the short film Monkey Park, produced in 1993 by Joshua Abbey when he was a student at the American Film Institute. Abbey was one of the original founders of the CineVegas film festival, and runs the yearly Celebration of Jewish Film. Monkey Park, directed by Anthony Haney Jardine, stars Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer. August 26, 2:30 p.m., $3. Winchester Cultural Center, 455-7340.
4.
Understand comics. Cartoonist Scott McCloud, best known for his seminal work of comic-book scholarship (in the form of a comic book) Understanding Comics, is on a tour of all 50 U.S. states in support of his latest book, Making Comics. Vegas is actually the last stop on the tour before the wrap-up in LA, so McCloud (who’s got his whole family in tow) might be a little worn out, but his presentation should be pretty well-honed at this point. August 26 and 27, 3 p.m., Barnes and Noble, 8915 W. Charleston Blvd., 242-1987.
5.
Cheers to charity. Some numbers for you about Opportunity Village: annual taxpayer savings of $9 million; 7.8 million square feet of office, clinical, community center and parking lot space cleaned each year; 350,000 meals annually served to Nellis Air Force troops; 150,000 visitors to its Magical Forest wonderland in 2006; upwards of 3,000 disabled adults provided vocational training, job placement, advocacy and social programs each year. Help support the 53-year-old nonprofit by hitting O-Vino, a wine tasting featuring hundreds of types of vino. August 25, 3-7 p.m., Estancia Ballroom at Green Valley Ranch. Tickets are $50 in advance, $70 the day of and available at all Lee’s Discount Liquor locations, Opportunity Village, Station Casinos Reward Centers and on stationcasinos.com.
6.
Hit the wall. The rare Vegas production that predates the Kennedy administration has been unearthed and even made into a sequel, sort of. Breck Wall’s Bottoms Up—dusted off and given a new name, Bottoms Up II: Burlesque Returns—is back, at the Harmon Theatre at Krave. The production showcases the throwback antics of Wall, who opened the show at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas in 1959 and brought it to Vegas in 1964. This show is so old (how old is it!?) that most of the hotels where it once appeared no longer exist. Over the past five decades, Wall’s bawdy comedy has headlined at several Vegas casinos, including the old Castaways, Hacienda, Caesars Palace, International and Flamingo Las Vegas. Most recently it was scooped up by Fitzgeralds for a short run in September. Tuesdays through Sundays at 1 p.m., beginning August 29, $39-$59. Krave, 836-0836.