Trust Us

1.

Play head games and drink beer. When was the last time you played rock paper scissors? Or, more accurately, when was the last time you won? Usually reserved for determining a designated driver or who gets shotgun, that time-tested decision-making model is at last elevated to the lofty heights of, say, beer pong. Since March 20, prelims have been held at each of the nine Las Vegas Buffalo Wild Wings locations, and on Thursday, April 10, from 7-9 p.m., those nine semi-finalists will throw down in nonviolent hand-to-hand combat at the 7430 Las Vegas Blvd. South location to see who will win the grand prize of $50,000 and a trip for two to the 2008 summer Olympics in China. The winner will also advance to the national finals at Mandalay Bay. One, two, three—shoot!

2.

Dance and think, at the same time! It’s pronounced “shoe shoe,” but no matter how you pronounce Xiu Xiu, it sounds pretty darn different from any other music in the world. The Bay Area band obliterates the line between avant and accessible, while Jamie Stewart’s lyrics redefine “intensely personal” with every new effort. (See our interview with the frontman.) With A Crowd of Small Adventures, Love Pentagon. April 9, 10 p.m., $7. Beauty Bar, 598-1965.

3.

Get hammered on bubbly. Every year we bemoan the hangover we have from this annual event, and at the same time we bemoan the fact that we’ll have to wait another 364 days before the next one. Bubble-licious, a champagne tasting held Thursday, April 3, from 7-10 p.m. at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino as part of UNLVino, is a real treasured opportunity for us Las Vegans. Your liver will forgive you—we promise. $100 per person. unlvino.com

4.

Party with … Omarosa? If you thought Busta Rhymes and Martha Stewart made an unlikely pair, get a load of this: Blush Boutique Nightclub at Wynn will fete the birthday of celebrity agent Mike Esterman—a man to whom we owe all thanks for loaning us his menagerie of A-through-D-list stars for event-hosting purposes—on Friday, April 4, with a Rock ’n’ Birthday Bash hosted by Omarosa, CC DeVille of Poison, Ron Jeremy, Coolio and the ladies of Deal or No Deal and Rock of Love. 770-3633.

5.

See an intense movie for a good cause. The critically acclaimed, award-winning Romanian drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days is a bleak but powerful look at one woman’s efforts to procure an illegal abortion. Its one-week Vegas run ends with a benefit screening for Nevada Public Radio at 7 p.m. on April 3 at the Galaxy Neonopolis theaters. Tickets are $10. cinevegas.com/npr

6.

See Waiting for Waters. UNLV art faculty member and former A6 Gallery owner Chris Waters is, by his own admission, a fan of the strange and the surreal. So of course it shouldn’t surprise anyone that his newest exhibition, Waiting, opening at the Jennifer Marie Gallery on First Friday, April 4, highlights the oddest foundations of everyday life. And when one of those foundations involves a guy in a business suit and a donkey mask shopping for cereal at 1 a.m., one can only wonder about the other odd complexities that meander in Waters’ world. Or maybe it’s less about complexities and more about his just being bored. Either way, it makes for damn good art. 101 E. Charleston Blvd., Ste. 205., 686-3164.