BIG BANG
Steve Wynn will be kicking up some dust November 17 when the two remaining Desert Inn towers—the Palm and St. Andrews, which currently houses the casino mogul's art collection and executive offices—will be brought tumbling down to make room for the second phase of his resort. The double-implosion is set for 1 a.m., a move that helps keep street-closure costs down ... and party atmospheres up. All of Wynn's art will be carefully crated up and moved prior to the buildings' destruction. Mangers will have to make their own way out.
LOCAL CD
Fang & The Gang (2.5 stars)
Fang Reveres the Raiders
It's odd when a tribute album is created by an ex-member of the band being paid tribute. On the one hand, who knows the material better than the former member? On the other hand, the project can simply smack of self-aggrandizement. Phil "Fang" Volk, old bassist for Paul Revere and The Raiders, manages to walk that razor's edge with this 18-track disc. Don't look for any new interpretations of old rock-in-the-face-of-the-British-invasion; rather listen for fond renditions of old classics like "Steppin' Out," "Kicks" and "Indian Reservation."
VEGAS WILDLIFE
The one problem we've always had with outdoor activities is, well, the outdoor aspect. It's full of dirt and bugs and something unpredictable we at the Weekly call "weather." The Silverton has perceptively recognized these problems and arrived at a solution. Opening November 16 is the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, conveniently located inside the casino-hotel's new expansion. It will house a 40,000-gallon, waterfall-fed, fresh-water aquarium stocked with fish; another 117,000-gallon salt-water aquarium stocked with tropical fish; and a Mermaid Bar with a 25-foot-long, 14-foot-tall, 16,000-pound window and stocked with live mermaids, of course. Our helpful hint: try out the shooting and archery ranges before you hit the bar, otherwise you just might hit the bar.
JUDGING BOOKS BY THEIR COVERS
When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?
By George Carlin;
$23.95
Thanks to The Da Vinci Code, we know how to decipher Last Supper images. Here, Carlin is so upset by the slow service (note the clean plates), the chance of food poisoning (the swooning woman to his right) and the irritating wait staff fawning over his shoulder ("I'm Judas, and I'll be your server") that he's going to leave a small tip!
The Know It All
By A.J. Jacobs;
$25
There's something about a fellow carrying encyclopedias that prompts ordinary Americans to think: I could beat that guy up! But remember, he's carrying 38 encyclopedias. Nerds with muscles: avoid at all costs.
Villages
By John Updike;
$25
Something about this cover screams "sex." Not the painting of naked women—that looks like a Weekly office party. Certainly not the title; Villages sounds like New England, which is the opposite of sex. No, something else lends this cover its salacious air: Oh, it's the word "Updike." Sex is all this guy writes about!
DVDs
Spanish Fly (R) (2 stars)
$29.99
This unconvincing portrait of a woman struggling to find happiness while researching a book on "machismo" in Madrid has been gathering dust on Miramax's shelves for more than five years. The cover blurbs compare writer-director Daphna Kastner's romance to Under the Tuscan Sun but it's closer to such cloying exercises in post-feminist neuroses as Kissing Jessica Stein, minus the faux lesbianism. The settings are nice, though.
Dr. Strangelove (NR) (5 stars)
40th anniversary edition
$34.95
This two-disc edition of Stanley Kubrick's essential Cold War comedy was released on Election Day. Coincidence? Bonus material includes the documentary, No Fighting in the War Room or: Dr. Strangelove and the Nuclear Threat, with interviews with Bob Woodward, Robert McNamara, Roger Ebert, and Spike Lee; a separate chat with McNamara; and Best Sellers: Peter Sellers Remembered.
2003 World Series of Poker (NR) (2 stars)
$34.95
Three years ago, if anyone had said poker would be the trendiest game since Trivial Pursuit, he would have been considered hopelessly out of touch with reality. ESPN's disc joins several others from the folks at the World Poker Tour, featuring Phil Hellmuth and Howard Lederer, Poker for Dummies and a new edition of Rounders, with one disc devoted to Texas Hold 'Em.