Las Vegas Weekly

Stories published May 29, 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.

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.

Four questions with Shooter Jennings

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

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.