Las Vegas Weekly

Story archive for May 2008

Welcome to Mt. Doom

Aaron Thompson | Thu, May 29, 2008 (3:26 a.m.)

It’s been six years since I’ve been to a show in the desert and more than eight since I’ve heard of one being successful—success being measured not in if, but when Johnny Law will break up the gathering of punks, arrest some of them and send the rest back to their homes in the ’burbs.

Death becomes her

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:46 a.m.)

Comedian and Weekly cover model Tanyalee Davis has faced near-death five times and lived to tell about it. And you thought you were tough.

Disturbed

Josh Bell | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

Nu-metal may be dead, but Disturbed are, as the title of their fourth album indicates, Indestructible.

Throw the Black Book at ‘em

Damon Hodge | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

The names are Scorsese flick-worthy: Francis “Lefty” Rosenthal; Dominic Anthony Spinale; Joseph Vincent Cusumano. Their crimes, the stuff of wise-guy legend: Louis Tom Dragna led organized crime in Southern California; Buffalo mobster Stephen Anthony Cino racked up a laundry list of charges, from robbery to extortion. Their bravado, incomparable: Fred Anthony Pascente was a Chicago detective busted for mail fraud and linked to the Chicago mob; Timothy John Childs once listed “slot cheat” as his occupation on a loan application.

From the Gulch to Ghostbar

Xania Woodman | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

Jeff MacKay isn’t shy in admitting that he lied through his teeth to get his first bartending gig back in 1996 at the Glitter Gulch. His first night in the well was a trial-by-fire scene right out of Cocktail, starring a roomful of Comdex execs and a cocktail server with a weak spot for educating attractive young bartenders .

Small Wonder

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

"You weren’t expecting this shit, were ya? ... It’s a natural human reaction to freak out when you see somebody different. Kids are very honest, very upfront about their reactions. Kids’ll see me: 'Hey, what happened to youuu? Did you get into an accident?' 'Hell no, I didn’t eat my vegetables when I was your age, you little shit … now put me down.'”

Spiritualized

Spencer Patterson | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

The A&E in the title of Spiritualized’s latest album has nothing to do with the Arts and Entertainment referenced on the cover of this magazine.

Of maggots and men

John Katsilometes | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

This is an excerpt from the radio show Our Metropolis, a half-hour issues and affairs program that airs Tuesdays at 6 p.m. on KUNV 91.5-FM and his hosted by the Greenspun Media Group’s John Katsilometes. Tune in next week to hear the rest of this interview with Dr. Lee Goff, entomological consultant for the FBI and the CSI television shows, who is curator of CSI: Crime Scene Insects at the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.

Show them the money

Dave Berns | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

There’s always the Duke with his sing-song voice, the miles of attitude that stretched from mesa to mesa and that athletic swagger. Surrounded by marauding Indians or searching for his kidnapped niece, the Duke remained the Western idyll of the self-reliant settler. John Wayne didn’t need no stinkin’ help.

Cyndi Lauper

Annie Zaleski | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

In a recording career that’s spanned nearly three decades, Cyndi Lauper has never been afraid of collaboration, nor of pushing her creative limits. This fearlessness has lead to plenty of groundbreaking genre-bending and, well, tons of not-so-successful pairings (a 2005 remake of “All Through the Night” with reggae star Shaggy was downright painful).

Al Green

Patrick Donnelly | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

The Reverend Al Green has provided the soundtrack to some of the sexiest moments in the lives of most people of a certain age, and he shows no signs of slowing down with his latest effort.

In Search of Harry

Ken Miller | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

History will likely remember Harry Reid only as the Senate Majority Leader who took it upon himself to announce “the war is lost,” a statement that rankled even anti-war proponents. And that’s a pity. Reid is a tenacious lawmaker, true, but as he illustrates in his fascinating new tome, The Good Fight: Hard Lessons from Searchlight to Washington, he is also a man of blunt simplicity and hard-scrap values, the son of a miner who no doubt still has some dirt under his fingernails.

Here’s the beef! Dixie’s herds ‘em in for the grand opening weekend

Matthew Scott Hunter | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

You know you’ve had enough to drink when you find yourself on a rock in the middle of the desert early in the morning, staring down a cow with orange spots. And I haven’t even visited this week’s bar yet.

300 Dresses

Xania Woodman | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

The dreaded velvet ropes and stanchions line up inside like soldiers, with none of the club’s darkened stillness hinting at the crazy scene soon to overtake it. Party Director Jeannette Ivy and her colleague Kokie Abebe will be juggling 300 girls—up from yesterday’s 250—over Memorial Day weekend.

Perez is Burning

Steve Friess | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

In my line of work, I meet and interview a lot of famous people. Because of the wide scope of my interests, they have included presidents, movie stars, controversial figures in the news, convicted felons and CEOs of major corporations. I am usually struck by how much nicer and more humble they are in private than I would ever expect them to be.

A fashionable finale

Matthew Scott Hunter | Thu, May 29, 2008 (12:01 a.m.)

The summer’s latest tent-pole event movie doesn’t have digital spaceship battles or whip-cracking adventurers or superheroes soaring between skyscrapers. But it does have not one, not two, but three scenes devoted entirely to showcasing different outfits. It’s what my girlfriend gleefully refers to as “fashion porn,” and it will have women lining up at theaters in their best pairs of shoes the same way Star Wars fans lined up for those movies in their best approximations of Jedi robes.

Fall of the Empire … Ballroom

Team Hangover | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

“Everything happens for a reason.” Empire Ballroom exec Gino LoPinto is handling the news relatively well—Empire closed just hours before DJ duo Scooter & Lavelle were scheduled to perform.

The Police with Elvis Costello

Spencer Patterson | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Eleven months after blowing into Las Vegas for an early appearance on their reunion tour and limping out off a lackluster performance, The Police did their substantial legacy proud last Friday night. A crowd of 11,000—far fewer than at last June’s wildly hyped, wrap-behind-the-stage sellout of 15,000—discovered that Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland spent the past year sharpening their sound and trimming fat from their set, to the point where the trio’s comeback finally felt more musical triumph than money grab.

Red Bull Cola

Xania Woodman | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Packing a strong herbal energy punch, this cola goes where others dare not: into the realms of flora and spice like licorice, cinnamon, lemon, ginger, orange, corn mint, pine, cardamom, mace and clove.

Four questions with Shooter Jennings

Josh Bell | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Bella Bistro

Max Jacobson | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Opening a restaurant is a lifelong dream for many new Americans; usually places that represent the cooking of their native lands. Gina Linzi, who came here eight years ago to work as a bus girl at New York-New York’s Il Fornaio, has realized that dream. After a climb to that restaurant’s position of general manager, she struck out on her own to open a comely Italian bistro on the city’s west side. And it’s a real charmer, like Gina herself.

What’s in a slogan?

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

The image of Sin City as an adults-only playground where anything is possible is reflected in the catchy slogans and commercial spots that have been used over the years. But let’s face it: Reality is catching up to our beloved burg. The headlines this year show cracks in the façade. In the spirit of representing our city honestly, we here at the Weekly have come up with some slogans of our own, ones that more accurately reflect recent trends.

Chatting with non-partisan comedian Steven Wright

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Julie Seabaugh interviews comedian Steven Wright about a changing demographic in the audience, politics, and creative outlets.

The truth…is in Rachel?

Greg Thilmont | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Over a beer at the Little A’Le’Inn bar in tiny Rachel, Nevada, Frank Karl, a retiree from upstate New York, tells me he’s an open-minded kind of guy with a skeptical bent thrown in for good measure. “I, for one, do believe that there’s intelligence outside the Earth in the universe. What form it takes or where it’s at, I don’t really know. But I’m certainly willing to learn,” says Karl.

Peggy Plots Your Planets

Peggy Allison | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

What do the stars hold for you this week? Check out Peggy's stellar guidance.

Dream Zone

Lauri Quinn Loewenberg | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Lauri answers what your dreams are trying to tell you.

The Fall

Josh Bell | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

It’s been eight years since single-monikered director Tarsem’s first film, The Cell, and opinions on the filmmaker and his work remain deeply divided. It’s unlikely that his long-in-the-works follow-up, The Fall, will be any less polarizing.

The Strangers

Mike D'Angelo | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

At a time when horror movies from around the world desperately strive to say something Relevant about rapacious capitalism or banlieue violence or Abu Ghraib or whatever, Bertino’s impressive debut, The Strangers, evinces an old-school single-mindedness that’s quite refreshing: This movie’s sole purpose and function is to scare the living shit out of you.

The Exies

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Wanna know what we think of The Exies new album? Read on to see our review of A Modern Way of Living with the Truth then catch them in concert at the House of Blues.

The Help Desk

Las Vegas Weekly Staff | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

McCarran Airport ranks No. 2 in customer satisfaction for 2007.: We would have been No. 1, but not everyone loves being frisked by Wayne Newton.
Assemblywoman Francis Allen arrested for allegedly stabbing her husband in the arm with a steak knife.: Looks like all this fuss about term limits may not be necessary.
Britney Spears reportedly planning a comeback in Las Vegas.: Yes, because her last Vegas performance went so well.

Mudhoney

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Momentum has slowed, it’s safe to say, for the first Seattle band out of the grunge gate. And when a group’s heat has long cooled, is the resulting lull a hindrance to credibility (with disappointment leading to diminished creativity), or a freeing agent, leaving musicians beholden to no one—fans, label, themselves—and open to exploring both sound and emotion?

Outside in

T.R. Witcher | Thu, May 29, 2008 (midnight)

Art can be such a game for insiders. All those fancy words and theories. Those imposing museums. All those impenetrable masterpieces. But ours is a town that loves outsiders, and so it’s a perfect place for so-called outsider art, where art is created not by professional “artists” but by outsiders—the untrained, the marginalized.

The Good, the Bad and the Jaw-Droppingly Bizarre at Dave Attell’s “Gong Show”

Julie Seabaugh | Sat, May 24, 2008 (3:18 p.m.)

Five hours of auditions for Dave Attell's The Gong Show bring everything from singing bananas to Richard Simmons tank tops to center stage, definitive proof that our fair city is home to some of the weirdest sideshow acts around.

A show down on the Strip

Kiko Miyasato | Fri, May 23, 2008 (11:56 a.m.)

Sweaty palms, dry mouth, ears strained, giddy anticipation building, waiting for him to utter those three little words.

From First to Last

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, May 22, 2008 (7:10 p.m.)

At the time, the early 2007 departure of From First to Last frontman Sonny Moore—and the band’s subsequent release from Capitol Records—seemed to be taken in stride. Primary songwriter and guitarist Matt Good resumed duties as the group’s original vocalist, Matt Manning came on board as bassist, and the post-hardcore foursome leapt into the studio to bang out a self-titled third effort with something to prove.

Foxy Brown

Ben Westhoff | Thu, May 22, 2008 (7:05 p.m.)

The first track on Foxy Brown’s fourth solo album, Brooklyn’s Don Diva, is interspersed with news accounts detailing her troubles with the law, including her attack on a pair of nail-salon workers which led to a probation violation and a stint in Riker’s Island.

Old 97’s

Richard Abowitz | Thu, May 22, 2008 (7:01 p.m.)

Determined and dogged are the two words that describe the Old 97’s music and behavior. The band formed in the early ’90s as part of the alternative country movement (albeit with a pop streak), releasing independent singles and discs and eventually winding up on a major label for a few years, before being unceremoniously dumped.

3 Doors Down

Josh Bell | Thu, May 22, 2008 (6:56 p.m.)

If only 3 Doors Down would just give in and become a country band, their music would probably sound a whole lot better. They’re already favorites of NASCAR and practically the official band of the U.S. military; “Citizen/Soldier,” from their new self-titled album, has been used as a National Guard recruiting jingle for months now.

Scarlett Johansson

Annie Zaleski | Thu, May 22, 2008 (6:45 p.m.)

Until now, Scarlett Johansson’s karaoke rendition of the Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” in the film Lost in Translation was the 23-year-old’s most famous vocal performance. Stilted and thin-sounding where Chrissie Hynde’s version was brazen and assured, Johansson’s delivery nevertheless possessed quirky, distinctive charms.

Work out those daddy issues

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, May 22, 2008 (6:16 p.m.)

If, as the promotional literature shrieks, you’ve got 1) A Hot Body 2) A Cute Face 3) An Awesome Personality (hello, mutual exclusivity), come on out, take if off for the GGW Bus, compete for the title of GGW’s Hottest Girl in America, set third-wave feminism back a few paces and make a decision you’ll regret later in life.

Filching the Funny

Julie Seabaugh | Thu, May 22, 2008 (6:12 p.m.)

By some cosmic force of comedic coincidence, three of stand-up’s biggest stars—and alleged joke, uh, “borrowers”—headline three different venues this weekend. Here’s how they compare on the punchline-pilfering scale.

Blue Rodeo

Patrick Donnelly | Thu, May 22, 2008 (6:03 p.m.)

From the funky-yet-twangy opener “So Far Away” to the dreamy “It Makes Me Wonder,” these Canadian road warriors are a rootsy mashup that recalls The Jayhawks, Poco, the Eagles and The Band.

‘Free’ for All

Aaron Thompson | Thu, May 22, 2008 (5:51 p.m.)

Would you wait two and a half hours in your car in 90-degree temperatures to fill up with free gas?

White Rabbits

Spencer Patterson | Thu, May 22, 2008 (5:50 p.m.)

The New York-via-Missouri sextet’s famed live energy permeates this debut album—a summery blend of tropical pop, Afro rhythms and elements of 2 Tone-style ska.

Bayou ‘cue

Max Jacobson | Thu, May 22, 2008 (4:36 p.m.)

Down-home cooking has never had it better in Sin City, with the advent of two places tinged by the Crescent City, New Orleans. One is an authentic N’awlins-style café, where po’ boys and file gumbo rule. The other is a barbecue shack serving some of the best ’cue in town, as well as side dishes that would make a Cajun grandmother weep with joy.

Try Again

Josh Bell | Thu, May 22, 2008 (2:40 p.m.)

It’s surprising that it’s taken nearly eight years for someone to make a movie about the 2000 presidential election dispute.

My brother is an only child

Josh Bell | Thu, May 22, 2008 (2:29 p.m.)

Although the Italian drama My Brother Is an Only Child deals with a time of political upheaval and cultural change, its background of activism and revolution always comes second to its depiction of interpersonal drama.

Then she found me

Josh Bell | Thu, May 22, 2008 (1:58 p.m.)

Helen Hunt has spent the last seven years almost entirely absent from movie theaters, devoting most of her time to appearing in plays and putting together her long-in-development passion project Then She Found Me.

It’s not the years, it’s the mileage

Matthew Scott Hunter | Thu, May 22, 2008 (1:04 p.m.)

I’ll just come right out and admit it: I’m typing this review in a battered fedora.

No country for bad filmmaking?

Aaron Thompson | Thu, May 22, 2008 (1:03 p.m.)

It’s a little more than one week before renegade director Uwe Boll’s film Postal is set to open in theaters nationwide, and in true Boll fashion, there’s a problem with the film’s distribution.

Crimes and misdemeanors

T.R. Witcher | Thu, May 22, 2008 (12:40 p.m.)

Midway through the introduction to Las Vegas Noir, a collection of crime stories, many of which were written by current or one-time locals, the book’s editors, Jarret Keene and Todd James Pierce, promise that the stories to follow are “cliché-free” and “full of flesh and blood characters trapped in dire circumstances …” Sounds like trouble.

The little (soon-to-be-big) college that could

Damon Hodge | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

Nevada State College has room to grow and it hopes to do just that.

Peggy Plots Your Planets

Peggy Allison | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

Do good things come to you this week? Check out your horoscope and find stellar guidance.

Speedy delivery

John Katsilometes | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

Interview with Vegas PBS General Manager Tom Axtell.

Ranking is Rank

Deanna Rilling | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

Burridge has never lost his shirt gambling, didn’t make it to Celine Dion’s show and feels he always ends up in a “rubbish” hotel room.

Pimp My Puppet

Steve Friess | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

The news that the impressionist-ventriloquist-puppeteer Terry Fator would be taking over the showroom at the Mirage after Danny Gans crosses the street to bore Steve Wynn’s customers at Encore with a 20-year-old act came as something of a shock.

Sex and This City

Xania Woodman | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

Preparing to interview her last summer as she keynoted a conference, I foolishly thought that speaking with the woman behind “Carrie Bradshaw” (Bushnell’s admitted alter ego) might feel something akin to meeting a long-lost older sister and recklessly fantasized that she might take me under her wing. It was not to be.

Porn free

Greg Beato | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

The last bastion of smut—the hotel-room on-demand channel—may soon be a thing of the past.

The Help Desk

Charles Barkley owes $400,000 to Wynn Las Vegas casino.: Finally—Las Vegans have someone they can blame for this whole economic mess!
Las Vegas Marathon owes thousands to businesses and organizations.: That’s what happens when you let Charles Barkley handle your accounts.
Las Vegas celebrates 103rd birthday with Helldorado Parade.: Then asks for some pudding and a blanket and falls asleep.

Tourment Trance Moon Nightclub $12

Xania Woodman | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

As the signature drink of Moon’s newly christened Satellite Bar house room, the Tourment Trance shot is just one of N9NE Steakhouse bartender Dave Herlong’s many space-inspired absinthe cocktails.

Dream Zone

Lauri Quinn Lowenberg | Thu, May 22, 2008 (midnight)

Lauri answers what your dreams are trying to tell you.

Sea (Stone) change

Max Jacobson | Thu, May 15, 2008 (3:47 a.m.)

Jin Myung is hoping three will be the charm for her difficult and expensively constructed location, now home to Sea Stone, an Asian fusion and sushi restaurant. The space started life as Tre, run by the Maccioni family of Le Cirque fame, and later morphed into Hannah’s, Vietnamese/Asian fusion from Hannan An of Crustacean, before surfacing in its current incarnation.

Down from the mountain

Theodore Witcher | Thu, May 8, 2008 (4:56 p.m.)

“Everything has a force. Embrace it or deflect it. Why oppose it?”

Young @ Heart

Benjamin Spacek | Thu, May 8, 2008 (4:44 p.m.)

Despite its title, Young @ Heart has nothing to do with Frank Sinatra.

Redbelt

Mike D'Angelo | Thu, May 8, 2008 (4:34 p.m.)

In a notable essay he wrote for the Village Voice a couple of months back, playwright and filmmaker David Mamet formally renounced his long-held status as a “brain-dead liberal.”

What Happens in Vegas

Josh Bell | Thu, May 8, 2008 (4:18 p.m.)

Audiences never had to sit through Where’s the Beef: The Movie or a big-screen take on Can You Hear Me Now?, but a bastardized version of our fair city’s advertising slogan (the actual phrasing is “What happens here, stays here”) is now the inspiration for this forgettable romantic comedy.

A sickly sweet confection

Mike D'Angelo | Thu, May 8, 2008 (3:54 p.m.)

Movie adaptations of ancient TV shows generally appeal to folks who bear some degree of nostalgic affection for the original series...

Larger than life

Joshua Longobardy | Thu, May 8, 2008 (2:38 p.m.)

Buffalo Jim Barrier was a living, breathing tall tale in Las Vegas for 37 years. As his family seeks answers regarding his untimely death, a Weekly writer—and a friend—looks back.

Mock the vote

Greg Beato | Thu, May 8, 2008 (1:10 p.m.)

Lindsay Lohan hasn’t carjacked an SUV in months. Nicole Richie’s formerly extroverted clavicles have taken refuge behind a discreet veil of subcutaneous tissue.

Tricks of the trade

In this week's Our Metropolis on KUNV, Jon Katsilometes talks to comic magician Nathan Burton, the new afternoon headliner at Flamingo.

Working his way back to you

Steve Friess | Thu, May 8, 2008 (12:56 p.m.)

It is hard to believe now, especially after the weekend that just was, that only a few years ago Frankie Valli walked out during a three-week contract at the Luxor and was declared by at least one entertainment writer to have essentially ended his association with Las Vegas once and for all.

Do you feel a draft?

Damon Hodge | Thu, May 8, 2008 (12:53 p.m.)

Let’s face it: UNLV will probably never reach Trojan (USC) heights in football, win as many NCAA hoops titles as UCLA (11), or fashion a college baseball dynasty like Louisiana State University. The best we can hope for is another national hoops crown in the near future. No pressure, Lon Kruger, no pressure.

Something we didn’t plan for

Patrick Wirtz | Thu, May 8, 2008 (12:38 p.m.)

Learning from Las Vegas is the title of an iconic book that first gave some positive recognition to the cultural significance of our market-driven landscape.

The Help Desk

Police: Burglar broke into people’s homes and left pornography.: Honey, that’s not my porn! ... It was left by a burglar!
Las Vegas-style slot machines debut in Tampa.: What happens in Vegas ... well, now apparently happens in Tampa, too.
Report: Las Vegas and Miami lead the country in home-price decline.: Miami residents considering move to Tampa. (They have Vegas-style slot machines!)

A walk to remember

Aaron Thompson | Thu, May 8, 2008 (12:19 p.m.)

We’re at Mile No. 7, and I’m feeling good, which is more than I can say for Mike Tyson.

Nirvana Bleach Rocks

An album that rocked my little world. Definitely not as good as Insecticide. Too bad the dude shot himself in the head!