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04 APRIL 1 8

Fashion, flair, and design merge in the lives of these stylish Las Vegans Blue Heron is a family-owned Design/Build firm, founded with a commitment to exceptional architecture and outstanding quality of construction. Owner and founder, Tyler Jones has created an innovative architectural style called “Vegas Modern” in response to the climate, culture and lifestyle of his esteemed hometown. While many have imitated but there is only one original… Take a tour of our award-winning show home and experience new Blue Heron designs like never before with our Virtual Reality home tours. Open daily 10am – 6pm. 1320 Villa Barolo Avenue, Henderson, Nevada 89052

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Southwest Medical Associates is part of OptumCare, a leading healthcare delivery organization that is reinventing healthcare to help keep people healthier and feeling their best. Southwest Medical is a trademark of Southwest Medical Associates, Inc. Optum and OptumCare are registered trademarks of Optum, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2018 Southwest Medical Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. The Dawson Difference Dawson teachers help our students discover Artist. who they truly want to be. Scientist. Explorer. Author. Leader. Friend. Collaborator. Dawson Student.

Dawson teachers help our students discover who The return on investment of a Dawson education they truly want to be, from artists, scientists, is not measured simply by a diploma, but by an explorers, and authors to leaders, friends, and educational experience that prepares our collaborators. Classrooms inspire more than skills graduates to thrive no matter which path they in math and reading; they are spaces where choose in life. Here, students achieve their curiosity is sparked, discovery is celebrated, and individual potential while savoring life and the rewards of deeper learning last a lifetime. meeting the challenges of the world.

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MONTH 2015 10845 W. Desert Inn Road | Las Vegas, Nevada | 89135 MONTH 2015 2 DESERTCOMPANION.COM DESERTCOMPANION.COM 3 The Dawson Difference Dawson teachers help our students discover Artist. who they truly want to be. Scientist. Explorer. Author. Leader. Friend. Collaborator. Dawson Student.

The future of education is here. Join us at The Alexander Dawson School!

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MONTH 2015 10845 W. Desert Inn Road | Las Vegas, Nevada | 89135 MONTH 2015 2 DESERTCOMPANION.COM DESERTCOMPANION.COM 3 For us, it’s a labor of love.

Our passion for this profession reaches far beyond simply practicing good medicine. We nd armation in a patient’s smile, a warm handshake, a jovial conversation. We believe in order to provide life-changing care for our patients, they rst need to know how much we care about them. For us, it’s more than just a rewarding career— it’s a labor of love.

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ADVENTURE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER. Plan your next visit at springspreserve.org. VOLUME 16 ISSUE 4 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

job #: 33607 client: The Smith Center title: Upcoming Shows BLV Desert Companion April ______April run date: April 2018 release date: 3/12/18 release via: email ______11 23 technician: SOCIETY CULTURE software: InDesign CC Post-Parkland, these Joshua Wolf Shenk, color: 4-color students are creating true Believer fonts: Neutraface dialogue By Scott Dickensheets ______14 25 pub: Desert Companion THOUGHT EXPERIMENT HOT SEAT bleed: 8.875” x 11.25” DAVID BYRNE TAO THE COLOR PURPLE MAKS, VAL & PETA LIVE What would gutter Music, art, and brainy trim: 8.375” x 10.75” American Utopia Tour Drum Heart APRIL 24–29 ON TOUR: CONFIDENTIAl APRIL 18 APRIL 21 poet Charles Bukows- talk — this month’s live area: 7.625” x 10” MAY 16 ki think of Sin City? recommendations HI-RES MECHANICAL By Lee Mallory 28 16 DINING Q&A Mix Japanese cuisine Ian Zabarte on Native and hip-hop, and 10 INCREDIBLE SHOWS American resistance you’re Paid in Full to Yucca Mountain By Lissa Townsend DEPARTMENTS ONE AMAZING BROADWAY LAS VEGAS® SEASON By Nadia Rodgers Eldemerdash 38 30 HISTORY 18 DINING Remembering SENSE OF PLACE In the pizzerias of Caesars Palace’s AUGUST 7–12, 2018 SEPTEMBER 4–9, 2018 OCTOBER 9–14, 2018 NOVEMBER 7–25, 2018 JANUARY 15–20, 2019 When the airport Good and Evel not-so-grand means ... home By Kristy Totten Grand Prix By Sonja Swenson By Ian Whitaker 34 20 SHOP 44 OPEN TOPIC Record stores — still Q&A A slogan isn’t action a thing! Screen capture: By Nicholas Russell By Jacob Lasky UNLV professor Simon Gottschalk’s new book is a warning about the excessively digital life By Jarret Keene

50 FEATURE ESSAY 55 Time and again in Nevada, public money is spent with FEBRUARY 19–24, 2019 MARCH 19–24, 2019 APRIL 18–24, 2019 JUNE 4–9, 2019 JUNE 18–30, 2019 LIVING IN STYLE little or no public For these Las Vegans, personal style is input. Perhaps this about more than clothes or furniture — it’s isn’t a good thing Learn more about season subscriptions at www.TheSmithCenter.com/Broadway. an encompassing vision of life By Ian Whitaker By Andrew Kiraly 11TH STREET RECORDS: SCOTT LIEN; LIEN; SCOTT RECORDS: 11TH STREET BUREAU NEWS VEGAS OF THE LAS PRIX COURTESY GRAND CAESARS PALACE

( EXTRAS ) ( COVER ) 08 69 Farhan Naqvi EDITOR’S NOTE THE GUIDE PHOTOGRAPHY Robert John Kley Here we are now, entertain us — exhibits, concerts, shows, events, and miscellaneous hoo-ha to pack your calendar ON SALE NOW | VISIT THESMITHCENTER.COM TO SEE THE FULL LINEUP | TTYor dial | Group Inquiries: | Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, NV

6 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 job #: 33607 client: The Smith Center title: Upcoming Shows BLV Desert Companion April ______run date: April 2018 release date: 3/12/18 release via: email ______technician: software: InDesign CC color: 4-color fonts: Neutraface ______pub: Desert Companion bleed: 8.875” x 11.25” DAVID BYRNE TAO THE COLOR PURPLE MAKS, VAL & PETA LIVE trim: 8.375” x 10.75” American Utopia Tour Drum Heart APRIL 24–29 ON TOUR: CONFIDENTIAl APRIL 18 APRIL 21 live area: 7.625” x 10” MAY 16 HI-RES MECHANICAL 10 INCREDIBLE SHOWS ONE AMAZING BROADWAY LAS VEGAS® SEASON

AUGUST 7–12, 2018 SEPTEMBER 4–9, 2018 OCTOBER 9–14, 2018 NOVEMBER 7–25, 2018 JANUARY 15–20, 2019

FEBRUARY 19–24, 2019 MARCH 19–24, 2019 APRIL 18–24, 2019 JUNE 4–9, 2019 JUNE 18–30, 2019

Learn more about season subscriptions at www.TheSmithCenter.com/Broadway.

ON SALE NOW | VISIT THESMITHCENTER.COM TO SEE THE FULL LINEUP | TTYor dial | Group Inquiries: | Symphony Park Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 08 PUBLISHER Flo Rogers ADVERTISING MANAGER Favian Perez EDITOR Andrew Kiraly ART DIRECTOR Christopher Smith DEPUTY EDITOR Scott Dickensheets Editor’s note SENIOR DESIGNER Scott Lien STAFF WRITER Heidi Kyser GRAPHIC DESIGNER Brent Holmes

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Sharon Clifton, Susan Henry, Jimmy Hoadrea, Kim Treviño, LIFE, STYLES Markus Van’t Hul NATIONAL ADVERTISING ’m basically the worst house party guest on the planet because the REPRESENTATIVE hosts are usually half-convinced I’m side-hustling as a cat burglar, COUTURE MARKETING: 145 E 17th Street, Suite B4 the way I (apparently, obviously!) indiscreetly ogle their stuff and New York, NY 10003 • (917) 821-4429 I advertising@couturemarketing spam them all like: Wow, where’d you get this, ooh, what’s the story about that, etc. It’s an impulse I have to actively stifle. But it’s an innocent MARKETING MANAGER Donovan Resh impulse, promise: Your stuff is your story, your personality. (No wonder PRINT TRAFFIC MANAGER Karen Wong the so-called life-changing magic of minimalism befuddles me. It’s like SUBSCRIPTION MANAGER Tammy Willis an act of concealment or deliberate erasure, not to mention: boooring!) WEB ADMINISTRATOR Danielle Branton So, getting to write this month’s feature, “Life, Style, Soul & Design,” (p. SALES ASSISTANT Crystal Jepson

55) was a boon; I got to snoop people’s stuff under the auspices of journalism. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Seriously: Of course, it’s about much more than just stuff. It’s about how the things we put on our bodies and in our homes express and shape our Jakub Cernoch (intern), Cybele, Nadia Eldemerdash, Melanie Hope, Jarret Keene, personality, tell our story, and lend our lives an added coherence through Jacob Lasky (intern), Lee Mallory, Casey beauty and pleasure. The seven Las Vegans we showcase are each stylish Morell, Julie Seabaugh, Sonja Swenson, in their distinct way, but in every case, their thoughtful home design and Lissa Townsend Rodgers, Greg Thilmont, Ian Whitaker personal aesthetic suggest the attainment of a higher value that mere stuff- CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS for-stuff’s-sake can’t offer: an elevated and enriched sense of self. Stavros Damos, Anthony Mair, Aaron Mayes, Sabin Orr, Lucky Wenzel Andrew Kiraly editor CONTACT

EDITORIAL: Andrew Kiraly, (702) 259-7856; [email protected] FAX: (702) 258-5646 ADVERTISING: Favian Perez (702) 259-7813; [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS: (702) 258-9895; [email protected] WEBSITE: www.desertcompanion.vegas

Desert Companion is published 12 times a year by Nevada Public Radio, 1289 S. Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89146. It is available by subscription at desertcompanion.vegas, or as part of Nevada Public Radio membership. It is also distributed free at select locations in the Las Vegas Valley. All photos, artwork and ad designs printed are the sole property of Desert Companion and may not be duplicated or reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. The views of Desert Companion contributing writers are not necessarily the views of Desert Companion or Nevada Public Radio. Contact Tammy Willis for back issues, which are available for purchase for $7.95.

NEXT MONTH Roooaaad triiiiip — for your mouth! FOLLOW DESERT COMPANION We sample diners and eateries of the Southwest and beyond. www.facebook.com/DesertCompanion www.twitter.com/DesertCompanion

8 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS JERRY NADAL Our Passion, chair Cirque du Soleil ANTHONY J. PEARL, ESQ. vice chair The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas Your Space TIM WONG treasurer Arcata Associates FLORENCE M.E. ROGERS secretary Nevada Public Radio

DIRECTORS

CYNTHIA ALEXANDER emeritus Dickinson Wright PLLC

DAVE CABRAL emeritus Business Finance Corp.

LOUIS CASTLE emeritus Amazon Games Seattle

PATRICK N. CHAPIN, ESQ. emeritus

RICHARD I. DREITZER, ESQ. Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, LLP

ELIZABETH FRETWELL emeritus Switch BOB GLASER BNY Mellon Award-winning Schilling Horticulture Group landscape WILLIAM GROUNDS Infinity World Development Corp. DANIEL HAMILTON chilling Horticulture Group approaches the design, installation, and UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law S maintenance of your landscape as a combination of art, science, and DON HAMRICK Chapman Las Vegas Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram craftsmanship. We create outdoor living spaces that fulfill your desires, while GAVIN ISAACS simultaneously achieving sustainability and incredible beauty throughout Scientific Games the year. JENNIFER FORKISH Caesars Entertainment Corporation

JOHN R. KLAI II emeritus Klai Juba Wald Architects TODD-AVERY LENAHAN TAL Studio

LAMAR MARCHESE president emeritus

WILLIAM MASON Taylor International Corporation Call today to schedule your CHRIS MURRAY emeritus Avissa Corporation design consultation

WILLIAM J. “BILL” NOONAN emeritus Boyd Gaming Corporation (702) 452-5272 KATHE NYLEN schillinghorticulture.com MARK RICCIARDI, ESQ. emeritus Fisher & Phillips, LLP Like us on Facebook & Insured Bonded, Licensed, MICKEY ROEMER emeritus Roemer Gaming

RENEE YACKIRA Design | Installation | Renovation | Consultation | Maintenance

Tree Care | Hardscapes | Small Jobs | Irrigation | Lighting 0057280 license

ISSN 2157-8389 (print) • ISSN 2157-8397 (online)

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 9 No grid, no gridlock.

The 2018 Subaru Forester® 2.0XT is an escape route from routine. It has a 250-hp Direct-Injection Turbocharged SUBARU BOXER® engine and Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive. And Subaru is Kelley Blue Book’s 2017 lowest 5-Year Cost to Own.* Love. It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru.

There’s a dog park at the new location! Forester 2.0XT. Well-equipped at $29,495.† Subaru of Las Vegas 6455 Roy Horn Way (702) 495-2100 Subaruoflasvegas.com. Subaru, Forester, and SUBARU BOXER are registered trademarks. *2017 model-year vehicle’s projected cost to own for the initial five-year ownership period is based on the average Kelley Blue Book 5-Year Cost to Own data which considers depreciation and costs such as fuel and insurance. For more information, visit www.kbb.com. Kelley Blue Book is a registered trademark of Kelley Blue Book Co., Inc. †MSRP excludes destination and delivery charges, tax, title, and registration fees. Retailer sets actual price. Certain equipment may be required in specific states, which can modify your MSRP. See your retailer for details. 2018 Subaru Forester 2.0XT Touring shown has an MSRP of $36,090. Vehicle shown with available accessories.

SUBARU OF AMERICA MY18 FO “KBB NO GRID” PG

4C Print Ad CCO: Marty Senn AM: Abby Jenkins Live: 7” x 10” CD: Randy Hughes AP: Jenny Barnes Trim: 7.75” x 10.5” AD: Bob Berken PP: Peg Layer Bleed: 8.25” x 10.875” CW: Sheldon Clay PM: Jen Abbey SOAOO170189 Photo: Shawn Michienzi PRF: Jay Ditzer COLORS PRODUCTION NOTES APPROVALS Cyan • All line art & logos are repro Proof_____ AD_____ CW_____ GCD_____ AE_____ Prod_____ Client_____ • Unless specified by workorder, all other images Magenta Last Touched :tera.gilmore, 12-5-2017 11:30 AM, Production:2017:Subaru:_Page_ are FPO Yellow Ads:National:FOR:18FOR_NoGrid:SOAOO170189_18FOR_NoGrid_KBB_02.indd Black Printed at: None Revision #: 2 Scale: 1” = 1” ALLIN 9 PEOPLE, ISSUES, OBJECTS, EVENTS, IDEAS, AND CURIOSITIES YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS MONTH

ONE | ACTIVISM Their Turn Galvanized by Parkland, these student leaders aren’t waiting for someone else to drive the conversation on school shootings

ollowing the February 14 murders of 17 people involvement of aggrieved and grieving Parkland students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — charismatic, media-savvy, and willing to stand their F in Parkland, Florida, the national mood was rhetorical ground. Motivated by their example, students distinctly different than after previous school LET’S TALK nationwide quickly organized protest events: a March 14 Conversation shootings. From the local level to the White House, there starters school walkout; a March for Our Lives event 10 days later. was talk of the possibility of change (though later walked Faryn Duncan, Will these actions have any impact? Will adult policy- Connor Leeman, back by the president), the culpability of the National and Taylor Lane makers take them seriously? Will this create a momentum Rifle Association, and maybe some common-sense gun- felt at the ballot box in November? Desert Companion law reform. talked to three local student leaders about their very What was different this time? In large measure, it was the different plans to drive change in this possibly new era.

PHOTOGRAPHY Aaron Mayes APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 11 TAYLOR LANE side of the issue, surrounded only by those Silverado High School they agree with, leaving no avenue for con- A senior, Taylor Lane has become a versation with those they don’t. gun-control activist. She was at the fore- However, he is hesitant to say that this front of the localized #NeverAgain move- dialogue will impact the elections this fall. ment as the main orchestrator of Silver- The momentum has to carry beyond the ado’s March 14 walkout, and the March 24 protest in Washington, D.C., and community outreach organizer for the elsewhere. If apathy sets in, particularly over Las Vegas March for Our Lives. summer, he believes Parkland will become This isn’t a new issue for Lane. From like all the other shootings, which resulted hearing about Sandy Hook as a mid- in little, if any, change. Jakub Cernoch dle-schooler to the close-to-home Octo- ber 1 massacre, she’s always been con- FARYN DUNCAN cerned about the horrors of mass UNLV shootings. However, Lane truly became UNLV junior Faryn Duncan read news inspired to take a stand after seeing vid- of the Valentine’s Day shooting in Parkland, eos of Parkland student and activist Emma Florida, with disbelief. It hasn’t even been EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVISM Gonzalez speaking against the NRA. Students at Palo Verde participate in six months, she thought. How could this be “I just want people to continue to be the March 14 walkout to protest gun happening again? aware of the gun violence in our country, violence. Her reference point — like that of count- and remember that it isn’t normal, and less other Las Vegans — was the October that it’s not okay that this continues to 1 shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival. happen,” Lane says. CONNOR LEEMAN Duncan had been near the stage where Following Parkland, Lane made an In- Palo Verde High School country singer Jason Aldean was perform- stagram page titled “CCSD Walkout” to As student body president, Connor Lee- ing when the first round of gunfire hit encourage local students to participate in man is working to open a dialogue among people nearby. She escaped physically the national school-walkout movement his peers. While many high school students unharmed, but forever changed. and March for Our Lives, and educate them opted for walkouts in response to the Park- Scrolling through Parkland updates and about their rights to free speech. land shooting, Leeman, a senior, tried to watching the number of victims rise, Dun- Coming from a family of firearm owners, steer his school in a different direction. He can was transported back to October 2. She Lane believes lawmakers should strength- worked with Palo’s administration to use called to check on the friend who’d been at en background checks and regulations the half-hour of mentoring period on March the concert with her. She thought about the rather than ban guns. 14 to permit student-led debates addressing haunting vigilance that now prompts her In addition to fellow classmates, she’s gun violence. It’s better, he argues, to use to plan escape routes and hiding places received support from her mother. “I this time getting different sides to talk to wherever she goes. think it’s important that parents support each other. “Not that I’m much older than those kids,” the kids,” says Sandi Lane. “All change “It’s a student-led discussion on gun vi- the 20-year-old Duncan says, “but now starts with one person having the courage olence, where people can take it any direc- they’re going to have to feel that, too, every to stand up and voice their opposition or tion they want to,” he says. “We’re going to time they walk into a school or a mall or their opinion.” empower kids to lead a discussion on their anywhere there’s a large crowd. … I hate Taylor Lane turns 18 in May — she’s been own.” that other people have to feel that, espe- accepted to the journalism and communi- He says he notices this problem on all cially kids.” cations school at Arizona State University government levels: People in power, who But her sadness and anger gave way to — and plans to persuade others to head to have the capacity to make change, can’t seem hope and resolve after she watched the the polls in November to keep NRA-friend- to sit down and compromise. He wants his video of Parkland student Emma Gonzalez ly candidates out of office. peers to understand that civil dialogue can speak passionately about gun control, during Lane spoke to more than 100 students be had even when there is a disagreement. a rally three days after the school shooting. — some carrying 17 signs featuring the “You can go and protest, but it’s not gon- Duncan read up on gun laws. She donated faces of the victims at Parkland — who na do anything unless you can sit down at to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas kids’ congregated under Silverado’s flagpole the table and say, ‘We want to compromise GoFundMe campaign. She decided to show during the walkout. She talked not only on this issue. We won’t take away all of these her solidarity with them by joining the about the importance of protesting, but things, but we can compromise,’” he says. March for Our Lives protest. She’d have also of participating in future elections. “One of the things I want to focus on as joined the school walkout, too, if she had “If (politicians aren’t) going to change a student leader is making people see that class that day. She intends to stay involved their mind, one letter isn’t really going to people who hold a different perspective, until something changes for the better. make a difference,” Lane says, referring to they’re their friends, they’re fellow class- “I don’t know much about politics,” she Nevada Senator Dean Heller. “That’s why mates, they have similar interests in a lot says, “but with this movement, I know what voting is the strongest power that constit- of different things, they’re the same people.” I’m talking about because I lived it. I have uents can hold over their incumbent.” He says walkouts have a purpose, but the facts. With this issue, I think I can make Jacob Lasky ultimately they separate people on either a difference.”Heidi Kyser ✦ WALKOUT: BRENT HOLMES WALKOUT:

12 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS Solar Power 14. 12. Russian hackers 10. Netflix lists manipulate election for Hunger Rachael Ray Your Home Clark County assessor; 13. Games under publishes Zom- later realize they, like Someone “Documentaries” bie Stroganoff, Americans, have no actually & Other Recipes idea what county opens an for Petrified assessor does TODAY ax-throwing Ruin Scraps! business 11. 20. As humans prepare to merge 8. Russian One per- consciousness with technology, 21. hackers fill cent of the technology has second thoughts, Preserved media with population slowly backs away head of glarnig tpyos Sheldon controls 90 percent 19. Adelson still complaining of the bar- Sinister AI ter-worthy 9. resequences about LVCVA As self-driving cars junk traffic lights 15. get depressed by so no one ever It’s harder to find pointless, repetitive gets to donut locally sourced motion, Big Pharma shop Soylent Green 23. hikes prices on Netflix listsV for Turtle Wax Prozac Vendetta under “Documentaries” ¡ Dramatically Reduce TWO | LIST your Power Bill and Carbon Footprint You’ll Know We’re in a ¡ 30% Federal Tax Credit 3. Dystopia When … ¡ Rebates Available Civilization BY Scott Dickensheets is saved by 1. ¡ Financing Available enlightened Downtown smells teenagers like robot urine 17. ¡ Battery Storage The internet is two megaphones Available and a Mattel 2. 5. At Vons, two shoppers walkie-talkie Postapoc- ¡ A Nevada Company enter produce aisle, 22. alyptic one shopper leaves Since 1982 The robots 16. cockroach give our Wayne Allyn Root survivors jobs back strips down to metal relieved to codpiece, straps make final self to Stratosphere, payment and demands to 24. “2 + 2 = 5” on Raiders be called “the stadium Humongous” 25. no longer the Life is so result of be- 6. Orwellian ing nation’s More 4. everyone worst-fund- buildings Super-expensive recognizes ed school 7. use zombie gene sequencing previous district Turns out we’re spikes means only the item as a all Russian bots to keep elite can afford reference sidewalks chupacabradoodles to 1984 26. free of The Second Amendment droppings achieves sentience, angrily 27. demands whereabouts of Sunlight well-regulated militia blocked by hurricane-force 28. tweetstorms Bellagio ad campaign touts covering Earth fountains as family-friendly water stop for car-driving 30. 29. desert marauders You look Nevada’s Solar Leader! Netflix lists back Wall-E under 18. wistfully “Documentaries” Populace cowers as theocratic government on 2017 702-492-0957 enforces biblical injunctions against eating owls and wearing mixed-fiber clothing www.BombardRe.com

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 13 THREE | APRIL IS POETRY MONTH Barfly in Paradise What would Charles Bukowski have made of Las Vegas? An old friend speculates

BY Lee Mallory

ne windy night a guy in polyester Block and slam-poetry hangout PublicUs on Fre- stumbles into P Moss’ Double Down mont, there’s this Lit zone, where poetry, books, Poetry O Saloon, near Paradise. Slurping his good writers, wannabe writers, and “pretenders soupy Ass Juice, the bar’s signature to poesy” hang. Talent and imagination abound. Playlist drink, he whispers — á la Brando — “I coulda been Enthusiasm. Hope. Though Buk, the skeptic, “A Poem on the somebody.” Even famous. Though he already was. stormily warns in an unpublished letter to me: Underground Wall” by I met Buk, poet Charles “Hank” Bukowski, in “(What works) against almost all poets is sit- Simon & Garfunkel, from Parsley, Sage, the ’70s. Time called him the “laureate of Ameri- ting down thinking, I am going to write a poem. Rosemary & can lowlife.” Jean-Paul Sartre dubbed him The (young) become romanticized by it. (But) it’s Thyme (1966): They may “America’s greatest living poet.” Buk wrote 50 a suck. I get many literary mags and poetry books. take liberties in saying a poetry books, novels, and screenplays, saying, It’s almost all waste. One thinks it would be easier word can be a poem, but hey — one man’s art “The first goal of writing is to save your own ass.” to create than not create. The idea is simply to put is another man’s Though world-wise, he overlooked Vegas. words down and do it simply. We’re tired of pro- Damien Hurst. Surprisingly, with the women, writing, betting, fundities and brisk riddles.” For Buk, who never and booze, I find only one Bukowski poem about retreats, there goes the neighborhood! “Sun in My Mouth” by Björk, from Vesper- this place ... And the rest of Vegas? He’d likely have hated tine (2001): The the Strip for its money-grubbing glam. But given Icelandic chanteuse There was a frozen tree that I wanted to paint his love for Jeffers’ nature poetry, he’d probably adapts e.e. cummings’ “I but the shells came down cherish Red Rock. Near my place, Buk would will wade out/Till my thighs are steeped in and in Vegas looking across at a green sunshade smile at the Stratosphere rising like a giant phal- burning flowers” into a at 3:30 in the morning, lus. (Though he might’ve jumped.) Then, for his haunting, stirring I died without nails, without a copy of the Atlan- love of the track, he’d move back up Paradise to orchestral track that tic Monthly the off-Strip Silver Sevens casino for the sports- makes you reconsider just what cummings book. Maybe swing by Luxor long enough for was writing about. ... and without more Vegas poems, it’s hard to him to jot a wry poem about our garish know how he felt. Fighting or drunk, he city hosting a symbol of a refined an- “Cemetry Gates” claimed to not like people. So what cient civilization. (title sic) by The Smiths, Though conjecture, the thoughts from The Queen is might he have liked (or hated) about Dead (1986): If anyone Vegas? above are an estimable bet. Where- accuses you — as they Channel the hard-mouthed poet as the Ass Juice never lies. Back at did Morrissey — of over to Champagne’s on Maryland the Double Down, Buk leans back writing derivative drivel, and lights up, smoke curling to- just remember this: His Parkway, former nest of the Rat Pack. “weird lover Wilde” Absorb the ’60s ambience without wards the ceiling festooned with $1 always said, “talent the gloss. (Hank hated gloss, seeking bills. He’s back here in Paradise — borrows; genius steals.” the gritty underbelly of the streets.) lost and found. The sign reads He moves in on a lanky blonde in “Hangover insurance,” “Your Cover’s Blown” by Belle & Sebastian, a short skirt — imagine his though for him with a high from the movie Barfly, starring deductible. Then, ponder- EP Books (2004): This Mickey Rourke. Buk ing women and words, song, in quasi-haiku: buys her lots of drinks, he orders two beers. Bu- Ought I write a poem to / get the girl? Ehhhhh- then leans in, but she kowski leans into Cac- hh, nope. rejects him. An- tus, the bouncer and gered, he pulls house poet, saying, “Under Your Spell” by back: “Okay, “Keep the keys clean, Desire, from De- sire (2009): “What’s the hon, you still and on mornings of difference between look like an an- doom have a drink obsession and desire,” gel … takin’ a or two and wait. our nameless narrator crap.” Wait. Wait on the asks behind a slinky synthesizer riff, Head north word. She’s more wondering where the now. From Janco Books o n faithful than any wom- red line is in pining for

Charleston to the Writer’s an. It’s our final love.”✦ her muse. Casey Morell PRESS SIMON, BJORK: ASSOCIATED

14 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 ILLUSTRATION Stavros Damos WELCOME

LOVE IT? HAVE IT.

8 DEPARTMENT STORES 25 DINING CHOICES 250 STORES IN THE HEART OF VEGAS.

On The Strip across from The Venetian, Wynn and TI. 702.369.8382 | thefashionshow.com APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 15 FOUR | Q&A Ian Zabarte Western Shoshone, secretary of Native Community Action Council

BY Nadia Eldemerdash

ast year, President Trump an- with erosion and other factors, put the ar- nounced he would seek to re- ea’s groundwater at risk. Zabarte’s report L start the licensing process for the represented an ethnographic study of the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste lifestyles, beliefs, and traditions of the repository. In the aftermath of the vicious Shoshone people of the area, arguing that battle over the Dakota Access Pipeline, even the slightest possibility of ground- the project took on new significance as water contamination poses an attack on opponents, including Democratic Repre- their religious beliefs. sentative Reuben Kihuen and Republican Zabarte has long sought to expand the Senator Dean Heller, emphasized the education of Native Americans on the environmental hazards to Nevada. But impact of nuclear radiation on them- one voice was noticeably absent: that of selves and their way of life. He spoke to the Native Americans for whom Yucca Desert Companion about this struggle. Mountain is home. Yucca Mountain is part of the lands You argue that the impact of a nuclear claimed by the Western Shoshone, waste repository will be much higher which extend from northern Utah for Native Americans because of life- through Nevada and into Southern style differences the government has California. In 1993, members of the not researched. What are those dif- Western Shoshone and Paiute peoples ferences, and how do they affect the founded the Native Community Action Shoshone? Council to commission Native-focused We brought researchers to study research on the adverse effects of nu- Shoshone exposure to radiation from clear fallout and to address those ef- nuclear weapons testing, in one of the fects. Today, the NCAC is drawing on its first collaborative research projects communities’ experiences in the cross- assessing impacts based on Shoshone hairs of nuclear testing to fight Yucca lifestyle. Researchers came hunting, el nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Mountain. In 2014, it intervened in and gathered pine nuts and medicine, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s as we demonstrated how each was pre- Your work discusses the effects of nu- licensing of Yucca Mountain, using pared and used. … We identified the uses clear radiation on water in detail. the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley, which and practices that increased our risk How will radiation impact water sup- recognized the Western Shoshone as of exposure, including consumption of plies in the region? an independent nation, to contest the foods that absorbed radiation during Radiation released from Yucca Moun- Department of Energy’s claim over the the time of full-scale nuclear weapons tain will flow down into the groundwa- land. Sure enough, that year the NRC testing (1951-1994). Traditional foods, ter, polluting the Death Valley regional found that the DOE did not have land such as rabbit, antelope, deer, and ram, groundwater along the 180-mile-long or water rights in Yucca Mountain. absorbed radiation, concentrated in the Amargosa River, increasing risk of expo- Still, the fight is far from over for Ian thyroid, that the Shoshone people then sure to the Shoshone people and making Zabarte, spokesman for the Western Sho- ate, resulting in a significantly high- Shoshone country uninhabitable. shone and secretary of the NCAC. Zabarte er exposure. Shoshone communities has conducted ethnographic and histor- downwind, including my own, had no What are the broader implications of ical research in the area for years, and in other food to eat after the fallout poi- this on Native American customs and 2015 contributed to a report developed by soned every garden. religious practices? the governor’s office to the NRC. The re- We know radiation exposure is cumu- Pooha-Bah is a Shoshone word that port argued that the NRC and DOE’s im- lative, and because of our past exposure means a place of pristine water and pact assessment for Yucca Mountain was to radioactive fallout, the Shoshone can- a vision or faith in its healing power too narrow and failed to take into account not endure any increased burden of risk along the Amargosa River. Our places the climate conditions and potential cli- from any source, including a transporta- of worship have diminished and are mate change in the area, and that, along tion accident or mishandling of high-lev- increasingly threatened by contamina-

16 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 PHOTOGRAPHY Brent Holmes DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

tion. We need clean water to take care Shoshone history at Yucca Mountain of the Shoshone people. Our spiritual is 10,000 years old. The Shoshone were belief is harmed when our land and wa- never conquered, and in 1863 won peace ter are tainted or contaminated by pol- by treaty with the government. After lution, because the people must believe spending $15 billion in taxpayer dollars, that the water is clean if it is to help the government cannot prove ownership them. Protecting water is who we are as to Yucca Mountain because of ongoing a people. treaty-reserved rights, title, and inter- The Creator put Shoshone here in the ests of the Shoshone people in the Yucca Great Basin with conservation lifeways, Mountain region. Legislation by Con- instructions of how to live in harmony gress to designate Yucca Mountain as a with Mother Earth. When the govern- nuclear waste repository is legislative ment destroys our land, it is like tearing malpractice and a treaty violation. … The a page out of our bible — we don’t know Shoshone are vulnerable because we rely what we were to learn from the land, or upon the strength of America’s promise how it may touch, heal, or enlighten us. to protect us. We prepared contentions and made our case without government This has been an ongoing issue be- funding. We are the only party asserting tween native peoples of the Yucca ownership of Yucca Mountain, a disqual- Mountain region and the government. ifying condition. Supporting human dig- What do you think is at the crux of the nity and protecting basic human rights issue, and why has it been so difficult is the right thing to do when confronting to resolve it? government oppression. ✦

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 17 5 Almost

f all the in-between places I’ve Home number the locals: 43 million of them and been in the world, McCarran When you move around a 2.2 million of us in town last year. Maybe O International Airport is my lot, the airport takes on an it’s the tech scene or just a sign of the times, favorite in-between place be- unexpected significance but lately it’s felt like the party vibe at the cause it’s mine. LAS has become a welcome BY Sonja Swanson airport has changed: fewer feather boas, constant after growing up on the move more athleisure and Apple products. The all the time. There’s a saying my parents slots don’t make as much noise because had framed on our wall growing up: Home they don’t take coins anymore. Terminal is where the Air Force sends you. In the feather boas and cowboy hats, tipsy already. 3 is a beautiful, bright space with gleaming summer of 2002, the Air Force sent us to Every so often a guy might try to get a head floors and sunlight streaming in beneath Nellis, and we became official Las Vegas start on his weekend hookups by asking vaulted ceilings. I don’t have strong feelings residents. Later, my dad retired here, and where you were staying (“my parents’ house” about these particular shifts — getting to wherever I went after, McCarran was the is not a sexy answer, FYI). Once, when I see a place change is part of the privilege gateway to home. came home from working at a summer of belonging to it. Before there was Terminal 3, there was camp in Lake Tahoe, a guy in a too-tight Whichever terminal I’m landing at, when Terminal 1, with its notorious “McCarran button-down pointed to my beat-up 80-liter the plane shudders over the Spring Moun- mauve” palette and neon-rimmed pillars. backpack as it passed him on the baggage tain Range, when the pilot tips our wing in Everything about Terminal 1 reminded me carousel. “What the hell?” he said while his salute to the Strip, when I hear the familiar of walking through a casino circa 2002: The buddies laughed, then cringed when my dad chirps and burbles of the slot machines as low, dense carpet; the faint smell of popcorn; and I heaved the pack off the line. we disembark, I feel a sense of relief. I’m the Strip celebrities making appearances I can see why he’d forget that Vegas locals going to eat my mom’s home cooking. My

on that safety video (I’ve watched use the airport, too. The travelers far out- clothes are going to smell like home again. ✦ CJ HOOGLAND HOUSE: COURTESY STUDIO; COULTER MCCARRAN:SIMPSON Carrot Top try to shove a comi- Sense cally oversized backpack into of Place the X-ray machine so many A series in which writers find meaning in specific times it’s the only mental sites around town image I have of him). There SIX | HOW CRUEL IS APRIL? wasn’t much sunlight, clocks were few and far between, and JAZZ MONTH GRILLED UNLVino TAKE YOUR TAX DAY ARBOR whatever sense of the time of day you got Considered CHEESE Funds CHILD TO Alternate DAY from the airplane windows was thrown off America’s DAY schol- WORK DAY title: Fiscal Come Not greatest Second arships Alternate Colonosco- @ me, cultural — we’re py Day Totes again inside. The slot machines were a par- So greatest title: Inflict birches! Cruel ticular novelty, flashing their colorful lights Cruel contri- (April 12) down with Your Brats (April 17) (April 27) bution to drinkin’ for on Co-work- and burbling their autotuned greetings. world thinkin’ ers Day Back in those days, I’d see people come (All month) (April 14) (April 26) party-ready off the planes, wearing their

18 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

SEVEN | DESIGN Home Views Subtle design lessons from a very fancy house

Not long ago we visited “Cloud Chaser,” an inspiration home in Henderson’s swank hillside Ascaya neighborhood, to get design insights from its architect, Henry “CJ” Hoogland. The learning began in the front courtyard. (1) It’s de- fined by a dramatic opening that recalls the sky view in a slot canyon. It’s not a perfect oval, either; it’s comfortingly asymmetrical in the manner of erosion. Note, too, how it tapers toward the front door, leading you gently in. Inside, the gazillion-dollar view (2) is maxi- mized by the curved roofline, which leads your eye right to the premium sightline. And the glass wall embodies the airiness of the home’s elevated perspective. In the master bedroom (3), a deftly located fireplace means the occupants can’t place their bed against that wall; they can only put it in a position that ensures they’ll wake to that view. Smart design. Scott Dickensheets

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 19 8

BOOKS BY THE YARD

Adirondack chairs adorn the white sand near a firepit. Water trickles nearby, and a radio plays staticky music. Hundreds of books pack eight bookshelves, from romance and sci-fi to political commentary to sheet music for Hootie and the Blowfish. Welcome to Gary Solo- mon’s front yard. • Deep in the east part of the valley, on Hollywood Boulevard near Stewart, Solomon set up a free outdoor library on his property. “I just had the idea of putting a bookcase out there and seeing how people go with it,” says Solomon, a retired CSN psychology professor. • However, this library isn’t about lending, but taking. If you stroll up and spot a book you want, take it home. No questions asked. • “This is something people truly appreciate,” he says. “This isn’t just a library, rather it’s, Gosh, somebody’s gonna do something NINE | OPEN TOPIC for me? For free?” • In November, he put a lone bookcase with about 100 books in his driveway, intending to give them away. Shortly after, someone left a box of books. Then it happened again. And again. All Is Strong Enough? of them adding to his library. • After October 1, we adopted a slogan. “People have boxes of books in their house,” he says. “And they What we didn’t get was a conversation don’t wanna throw ’em away, and they can’t probably give them away, BY Nicholas Russell but I’m prepared to take them and put them on my property and give it my best shot.” • As the number of books expanded, so did his s of this month, Route 91 is Newsweek wrote, “Nevada has some of the vision for the library. He created a half a year behind us. We have most relaxed gun laws in the country, a path connecting the shelves to the memorialized the victims and legislative condition that is sure to come chairs, in case you can’t wait to get A mourned their absence. We under renewed scrutiny in the wake of home to read. He installed a water feature, with a bridge. A working have conjured up the slogan “Vegas Strong” the worst mass shooting in U.S. history on piano sits along the deck, with a be- to put focus on the city’s resilience in the Sunday night in Las Vegas.” That scrutiny yond-repair wooden organ near the wake of tragedy, to fortify our civic hardi- seems to have done little to inspire any firepit, for aesthetics. Lights are set ness as residents of a tireless town, to honor action here — or anywhere. Since January, up to allow night reading. He says some appreciative fans volunteer to our first responders and law enforcement, there have been more than 30 shooting help maintain the library by ensur- to seemingly never forget what happened incidents across the country, one of which ing neatness or even making minor here. We have ushered in a new year and occurred here at the Las Vegas Lounge, the repairs to the furniture. • He just carried on as best we can. city’s only transgender club. has one rule: “You can take a book, you can leave a book, but you can’t The problem is that carrying on neces- Post-October, the city, county, and state spend any money here.” sarily means leaving something behind. have made no push for new legislation, Jakub Cernoch The week of Route 91, Callum Patton from exhibited no renewed sense of urgency, and

20 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 PHOTOGRAPHY Brent Holmes DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

definitely engaged in no real conversation. matic firearms, such as AR-15s, along with It may be that Nevada practically invites a call for an overall increase in restrictions residents and tourists to legally purchase and to gun access, was launched within days of carry a firearm: No registration is required, the tragedy. Why? just a permit, which is good for five years. You It may be that the two groups of victims don’t have to notify a police officer that you are too dissimilar: one a concert made up have a weapon in the car if you’re stopped. primarily of tourists, the other a school of Plus, Nevada’s reciprocity agreements, which young people whose lives are tied to their honor the concealed-carry permits of other place. The majority of Route 91’s victims jurisdictions, cover 30 states. were over 30, while Parkland’s were mostly We moved past the tragedy born of these under 20. There’s also the nature of “Las choices, instead opting to emblazon our Vegas.” Ours is a liminal space, marked by cars and billboards and clothing with a transience. reminder that we are part of this city and There is a temptation to ask if we adopted somehow stronger for it. What exactly does the slogan “Vegas Strong” in lieu of having this do for us? a real conversation about the issues that The combination of “city name + strong” is led to its creation. The problem of gun not original to Las Vegas or to October 2017. control and the mass violence that can result After the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, from a lack of it is sprawling and seemingly “Orlando Strong” circulated on social media. unsolvable. The least we could do is visibly The same is true of Sutherland Springs, where mark the tragedy, with an item of clothing a mass shooting took place one month after or a sticker, and soldier on. Route 91. And Umpqua Community College Except I’m inclined to think there are a in 2015. Aurora and Sandy Hook in 2012. fair number of people who don’t see that And now, Parkland. This is understandable there’s any issue to solve. The creed for those because the phrase’s message is a simple one. who believe strongly in their interpretation It does not seek to specify anything other of the Second Amendment is that these than a location and an attitude. incidents are isolated, sporadic, perpetrated Because of this, Vegas Strong is open to by “crazy” and “stupid” amateurs. If a con- everyone who lives here. It would also seem cealed-carry citizen with a real sense for to belong to everyone who doesn’t live here, gun safety and training had been present, seeing as we sell shirts with the slogan at gift things would be different. shops around the city. This mass appeal, Never mind that these outcomes, in- generated by an ease of use, is by design. volving a shooter and an armed bystander, Buying a product meant to be seen, like, are rare and often result in disaster. See say, a sticker of the Strip skyline with “Vegas 2014’s Walmart shooting off Charleston Strong” in bold capital letters, represents and Stewart, where a married couple on action or a statement to many people. And a shooting spree shot and killed an armed the more people, the better. As a consequence, bystander who tried to intervene. Vegas Strong can be co-opted because what’s Our specific issue seems to be both an being said isn’t complicated. Consumption aversion to dealing with October’s complex- takes the place of conversation. ity, mixed with a measure of hubris when Meanwhile, in the months since Route thinking about these shootings as a whole. 91, a national conversation has been tak- “Vegas Strong” is about as far removed as ing place, with Las Vegas as a footnote. possible from even broaching the subject. The city has become another stop on the In March, in reaction to the shooting ever-lengthening timeline of mass shoot- in Florida, and no doubt spurred by the ings that initially came into the country’s persistence of those students who have consciousness with Columbine in 1999. This been speaking out, Oregon passed a new legacy continues today with Parkland, but gun-safety law preventing convicted stalkers the reactions have been vastly different. and domestic abusers from purchasing/ In October, after the shock dissipated, Las possessing firearms. It would seem the scope Vegas went into the scab phase of healing. of Parkland’s reach is far wider than Vegas’. The focus lay on two primary agents: the Again, we might ask why, but, frankly, the shooter and the victims. On a broader level, time for speculation has passed — more gun control came to the fore as a talking speculation would be anathema to produc- point, but not by much. By comparison, tive action. And dialogue is action. We need Parkland’s timeline has been far more con- to be serious about how we conduct ours. densed. A visible, vocal, and persistent Right now, Route 91 is half a year gone, campaign against the possession of auto- and we have nothing to show for it. ✦

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 21 Much in common. No two alike. Cancer takes many forms. Each is as individual as you are.

#comprehensive

cccnevada.com | 702.952.3350 ALLFOOD, CULTURE, STYLE, AND OTHEROUT PULSE-OF-THE-CITY STUFF

CULTURE | Q&A Reasons to Believer Talking with Black Mountain Institute boss Joshua Wolf Shenk about its groundbreaking literary festival

BY Scott Dickensheets

our first question when you see the promo material for Y this year’s Believer Festival (April 13-14) might be, Where are the headliners? All the talent, famous or obscure, is listed alphabetically. This may rub against Vegas’ marquee aesthetic — put the stars in big type! — but it’s in keeping with the quirky, egalitarian spirit of The Believer, the festival’s namesake magazine, now housed at UNLV’s Black Mountain Institute. “What we convey is that this is about a variety of people coming together to do something bigger than any one of them,” says Joshua Wolf Shenk, BMI director, Believer editor, and the festival’s curator. Still, if you did want to build a mental marquee, these are some of the names that might leap out: Oscar-laden film- maker Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), authors Mohsin Hamid, John Hodgman, Rachel Kushner, Leslie Jamison, and Nick Hornby, rapper Jean Grae. But doing that would shortchange a roster whose diversity and wide-ranging experience ought to be the TRUE real draw. BELIEVER Joshua Wolf Last year’s debut festival established a Shenk wants durable template: offbeat venues, unex- the two-day Believer pected modes of presentation. “No panels,” Festival to feel like a journey. Edited for length and clarity.

PHOTOGRAPHY Anthony Mair APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 23 Pertinents NOT ENTIRELY Shenk quips. He intends RANDOM BELIEVER lure: The Believer has a versity, in terms of geographic background, the weekend’s events to FESTIVAL DETAILS physical home, come be racial background, but also the kind of build on each other “so it part of it. work people do. This is in the spirit of The feels like you’re explor- NOT JUST WRITERS Believer. It has its roots in the literary arts, ing something, that it Moonlight director Were there things but it is omnivorous, curious about visual accumulates.” Barry Jenkins, Muslim you learned last year art, music, comedy. There should be a smile “This whole thing is speaker Wajahat Ali, that informed this on your face, even when you’re grappling comedian Aparna this kind of audacious festival? with the most solemn things. Nancherla, rapper bet on Las Vegas,” Shenk Jean Grae, more Bigger venues. says, meaning The Be- (Laughs.) Last year, I’m curious how you see The Believer’s liever and its festival, BUT ALSO WRITERS (State of Nevada host) sensibility meshing with Vegas’. and the notion that a Meg Wolitzer, Law- Joe Schoenmann took Vendela Vida, the co-founder of the funky, literary sensibil- rence Weschler, Kan- me to coffee and said, magazine, has often referred to Las Vegas ity can take root here. chana Ugbabe, Vogue “I’m going have you on as the spiritual home of The Believer. She “The invitation is not Robinson, Tayari the show. First thing says before there was any prospect of it to consume a cultural Jones, Dave Eggers, I’m going to ask you living here, they would talk about Las Zinzi Clemmons, more product,” he adds, “it’s is, ‘Is Las Vegas ready Vegas and The Believer as having this to come out and be part THE VENUES for this?’” I answered weird kismet, and I think it owes to Las of something.” Red Rock Visitors him honestly, which is, Vegas being kind of outsidery, eclectic, to Center, the Writer’s “I hope so.” And then it not being afraid of being showy. But also This must be a busy Block, Las Vegas tickets went on sale, weirdly earnest ... like, yeah, we’re going moment for you. Academy, Fremont and we sold out within to put on the neon outfit, but we’re really Oh, it’s so close, so Country Club a couple of days. We trying to connect with you. close. It’s challenging, had a plan for national Info: blackmountain- in part, because we want advertising that we did So, does the festival relate to our po- institute.org to represent literary not enact because our litical context? writers from all genres problem was managing Our primary contribution to politics is and all backgrounds. all the people we had articulating the reality of an environment But we also want to edge into popular to say no to. So we’re in bigger venues of free, artful expression. And if we are territory (with film, music, comedy) to this year. political, it is about the potential of art convey that we’re not cloistered. And The one thing we’re doing identical to open the human heart and help us see we also want to represent Las Vegas to last year is starting at Red Rock. We and feel each other. writers, UNLV writers and artists, so were all just floored by that — this feel- I mean, I remember when I was in high we’re not dropping a cultural spaceship ing of sinking into the quiet, a stunned, school and my brothers and I would make in the middle of town and opening up grateful awareness about where we are. jokes about gay people, because we didn’t the hatch. I think this kind of culture is A quality of this region I cannot get over is know any. Then I went to college, and like a vine — you can introduce it into an the juxtaposition of the manmade and the my best friend came out. That changed environment, but it’s got to catch onto kind of man-defying. It’s like the height of everything for me. So I really believe in something solid and substantial that’s chutzpah and the height of humility right the power of the encounter, and what (already) there. That’s how culture really up against each other. And I wanted to begin is the impact of actually encountering a grows. One of the things we were most that way because I want to root the festival Nigerian novelist who might literally be proud of last year is that we were able to in a surprising sense of place. dead if it weren’t for the asylum work done strike that balance (by involving many by this network of people we’re proud to local writers). What guided you in choosing the fes- be connected with? What is the potential tival’s lineup? there? That, I think, is what we can offer, Last year’s theme was American There’s kind of a loose Believer aes- not any particular argument about any Dreams. Is there a theme this time? thetic, which is quality work that has a particular position. American Dreams was a really vigorous lot of life, that’s not self-serious but is theme, and we talked about doing that meaningful. We’re looking for people Anything else? again, (but) came down on just calling it who will be generous in spirit. You know, I will just say that none of this has any The Believer Festival. I feel some sadness there’s a certain kind of diva who you know permanence except to the extent that it because I thought American Dreams was will do something meaningful onstage, catches — it goes back to that original image. so potent. But there are good reasons to but who will just go back to their hotel And so at all levels we’re really looking for make The Believer itself a centerpiece. afterward. And we’re 180 degrees from people to connect and contribute. It could Ideally, The Believer becomes, for Las that, because part of our job is to convey be by volunteering. It could be by writing Vegas, to use a cliche, like a big tent of an opportunity of arts and culture in Las a small check. It could be just by being in arts and culture. It’s something that Vegas to these guests. the room. A presence like that is a huge act we send out to the world, and it’s also a Then, yeah, just diversity, diversity, di- of service. ✦

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THE Hot Seat

Conversation JULIE BUNTIN AND SAM QUINONES CLARK COUNTY LIBRARY

The opioid epidemic gusting through Amer- ica — it caused more than 20,000 deaths Music in 2016 — figures par- tially in Buntin’s novel JARABE MEXICANO Marlena, and is the WEST LAS VEGAS LIBRARY subject of Quinones’ A five-man Latin-music dynamo, Jarabe Mexicano per- nonfiction Dreamland: forms traditional Mexican song forms on traditional mari- Don’t mess with tile removal! The True Tale of Amer- achi instruments — but also mixes in their take on rock and ica’s Opiate Epidemic. reggae, too. Something for everyone. Two shows: April 28 Tile demolition can be a messy The authors will talk at West Las Vegas Library and April 29 at West Charles- process that can spread dust not only about the ton Library; 2p both days, free, lvccld.org throughout your home. Our crisis, but about how specialized equipment removes storytelling can help The Politics of Republican Governors. Brookings us understand its caus- your old tile with no dusty mess. Institute fellow Molly Reynolds maps the fault lines es. April 26, 7p, free, Clark County Library, between the actions of Republican state governors lvccld.org and their national party. Hoo boy! April 11, 6p, free, UNLV’s Greenspun Hall, unlv.edu/calendar

Visual Art ENGRAVING ON LAND CSN GALLERY BEFORE AFTER

These large-scale prints by Yoshiko Shimano Call Tile Ram to get deal with, among other things, the marks hu- the job done right! mans leave on the Earth See a time-lapse video of our — a topic that’s forever process on our website at timely. Through April 28; artist’s talk 6p, April 18, csn.edu/artgallery TileRamLasVegas.com Ask your contractor! We can Home + History Las Vegas. In honor of “Art, Architecture and Design Month,” work with them to make sure the local AIA chapter will host three days of home tours and lectures that your tile removal is done right focus on home design here. Get your Mid-Mod on. April 27-29, aialasvegas.org

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 25 THE ENTERTAINMENT Hot Seat Room for Laughter A legendary New York comedy club brings its funny business to the Strip Music BY Julie Seabaugh TY SEGALL BUNKHOUSE SALOON ate last year, after searching mat will offer performers 20-minute nearly three years for the sets across the board. Prolific indie rocker loved by critics L perfect comedy space in “Even in New York, we feel that plays intimate show at local venue. We’re Las Vegas, a team of New the headliner format is inferior to the streaming his album Freedom’s Goblin. Yorkers, including Noam Dworman showcase format,” Dworman explains. Raucous stuff! “That guy’s pretty wild,” — owner of Greenwich Village’s “Except for a very, very few (headlin- says Desert Companion intern Jacob famed Comedy Cellar — founder ing) comedians, most people enjoy Lasky, who (a) is young, and (b) whose Bill Grundfest, GM Liz Furiati, and a show with four or five comedians band opened for Segall a couple of Neon comedian Robert Kelly took to the rather than one. We’ve experimented Reverbs ago, meaning his enthusiasm Strip and finalized plans for a new with longer sets and headliners at the should be trusted. “It was a pretty fun venue. The Cellar finally made it rooms in New York, and we always show.” April 3, 9p, $15-$17, bunkhouse- official, announcing in a recent Ins- reverted back to shorter sets and downtown.com tagram post, “The worst kept secret more comedians.” is finally out! We are opening Of lineups at competing Strip an amazing comedy room and off-Strip comedy clubs, at @riovegas!” Dworman adds, “In Ve- Theater Volunteer Though the NYC gas, the people typical- home club of Chris ly headlining are not THE THE Rock, Dave Chap- really headliners in COLOR GREAT pelle, Amy Schum- the sense of some- er, Ray Romano, one who would PURPLE AMERICAN THE SMITH and Jon Stewart really headline a CENTER has expanded in New York room, CLEANUP recent years from anyway.” This Tony-winner DAY one to three rooms, The Comedy Cellar (best musical LAKE MEAD April 5’s opening week- at the Rio’s initial lineup revival, 2016) end at the Rio marks the includes New York regulars reimagines the It’s the 20th Cellar’s first venture outside Marc Cohen, Mo Amer, Kyle previous musical anniversary of of New York. The Comedy Cellar Dunnigan, Jessica Kirson, and based on Alice this salutary replaces Eddie Griffin. As it has since Nathan McIntosh. “I am so excited Walker’s Pulitzer- annual trash- 2001, the Rio will remain the home to be performing opening weekend,” -winning novel picking effort. of comedy-magic duo Penn & Teller. Kirson says. “The Comedy Cellar is about African- Removing litter (And the continuing Chippendales the best club in the country. They American women from the heavily residency should provide Cellar have the best venues, the best comics in Georgia in the trafficked comics with a wealth of material.) and the best audiences. I feel honored early 20th century. national The Cellar’s 300-seat venue mimics to be asked. It’s going to be a blast.” It’s been edited recreation area the original’s brick walls, acoustically And similar to the original Comedy down to its essence is a vital act pleasing low ceiling, and eye-catching Cellar, on any given night audiences in a way The New of community stained glass. Rather than employing might catch surprise sets from some York Times termed stewardship. a “headliner” format, with a host of the most famous names in the busi- “a miracle.” April April 7, call introducing a feature comedian, then ness. “I know that a lot of very, very 24-29, $36-$127, 702-293-8711 to a longer set from the biggest name on important comedians have already thesmithcenter.com register the bill, the Cellar’s “showcase” for- expressed their desire to play the room … and to drop in,” Dworman teases. “Just like in New York, we don’t schedule those — and I wouldn’t Wine, Women & Shoes. Fundraiser for COMEDY CELLAR be able to tell you, anyway — but we’re St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, honoring AT THE RIO confident that we’re going to have a Stations Casino veep Lori Nelson, and Thursdays-Sundays, 7p and 9p, show that blows away anything that featuring designer David Tupaz. Plus: plus 11p Saturday; $42-$62 (entry Vegas has seen in terms of consistency wine! April 15, 1p, Green Valley Ranch comedycellar.com is 18-plus) of stand-up comedy.” ✦ Grand Ballroom, stjudesranch.org

26 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 27 EAT THIS NOW: FRENCH DIP MORELS STEAKHOUSE & BISTRO

in the Palazzo, morelslv.com

Usually, the French dip is a relatively simple meat-bread- broth combo. But Morels Steakhouse & Bistro takes the lunchtime classic to new heights. It starts with the main filling — slices of slow-roasted prime roast beef. Next comes a layer of sweetly caramelized onions and buttery, nutty Emmental cheese, topped by a slather of zesty horseradish DINING | REVIEW cream, all inside a nicely crusted hunk of bread. Then there’s the extraordinary jus. In most eateries, this means a thin sauce, but not at Morels. Kitchen Remix Instead, it’s more of a rich beef Where hip-hop spirit meets Japanese tapas, that’s Paid In Full gravy that lacquers your BY Lissa Townsend Rodgers sandwich with savory goodness. The plate arrives with hand-cut fries or a light salad. I apanese tapas restaurant Paid In does it old-school style, but also offers a prefer the salad; its vibrant Full is named for the 1987 album few other renditions. One that pops in vinaigrette helps balance out J by hip-hop originators, Eric B. & an escargot with salsa verde and garlic the luxurious, nearly decadent Rakim. The sound system often aioli is like biting through a bubble to a sandwich. If a table is open on plays the New York City duo, as well as a center of heat-hinted creaminess. Their the patio overlooking Las little Run DMC, a little Public Enemy, a Kurobuta corndogs are peppery, piquant Vegas Boulevard, dip away dash of De La Soul. And the chefs at Paid in pork sausages wrapped in fluffy batter to with a daytime view of the Full are creating their own culinary beat, dunk in spicy mustard and sweet bulldog Strip. Greg Thilmont taking Japanese street food and throwing sauce, while panko-crusted crab croquettes in a sample from Mexican cuisine, a hook are moist little clouds well-accented with from a French bistro, a riff from a Midwest shishito peppers. Sweet corn with miso county fair. butter and farmers cheese is reminiscent of Takoyaki are traditionally dough balls Mexican street corn, but chunks of Netsue filled with minced octopus; Paid In Full bacon adds salty-sweet richness — I wanted

Cocktail SANGRIA OF THE MONTH AT ALEXXA’S In Paris Las Vegas, alexxasbar.com Depending on timing and traffic, the vantage at Alexxa’s offers you either an Instagram-worthy view of the Bellagio fountains in full balletic spray or a GIRLS DIRECT TO YOUR ROOM mobile flashboard drilling into your soul. But you’re here for their menu of sangria, the official spring drink of Las Vegas as of me writing this sentence. The Blanco (albarino wine, citrus, peach schnapps) is perky and tangily sweet; the Moonshine (zin, blackberries, currants) is dusky, heady, rich. There’s also one called The Modern, which lists “chef’s whim” as the ingredients. What is that? I don’t know. Which is why I’m going back. Andrew Kiraly

28 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

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to devour the whole bowl, like Goldilocks’ most-right porridge. Paid In Full offers a solid selection of beers and wines — the Yoho Brewing Tokyo store closing Black Porter is a standout, with a smooth hint of coffee — which include Colt 45 Malt Liquor and Mad Dog 20/20 fortified wine “for real G’s.” There are also a few festive, non-alcoholic cocktails, including the addictive Wu-Tang punch, which is SALE sparkling Tang with a hint of Thai basil syrup, garnished by a swizzle stick topped with a gold-painted rhino. It’s another After Two Decades of Serving Nevada with The example of the thought and care that’s been Finest Handcrafted Rugs put into every aspect of Paid In Full, from the disco ball in the tiny, bubblegum-pink ladies’ room to the sparkly gold $ medallion on the good luck cat by the register. If this place was Downtown, it’d have a line of EVERY HANDMADE hipsters out the door, but, in the wilds of ORIENTAL RUG IS the southwest, it’s a mixture of couples and families, lingering over a procession of small plates beneath the vivid mural of a tattooed Geisha girl flanked by a squid with a spray paint can and a wolf in a hoodie. Paid In Full’s wide-ranging flavors may be accessible to those unfamiliar with ~ Japanese food, but it’s also appreciated by fans. I took a friend who had lived in 50%70 % Japan, and, after taking her first bite of the Triple Garlic Yakisoba, a heap of noodles OFF with mushrooms and pork belly, she threw THE ORIGINAL PRICE down her chopsticks and clapped like a girl at a birthday party. When Eric B. rhymed “put it together/it’s simple, ain’t it/but quite clever,” he could have been describing Over 20,000 Handmade Oriental Rugs FRENCH DIP: COURTESY MORELS; PAID: SABIN ORR; SANGRIA: JENNA DOSCH/COURTESY ALEXXA’S JENNA DOSCH/COURTESY ORR; SANGRIA: SABIN PAID: MORELS; FRENCH DIP: COURTESY Paid In Full’s kitchen remix. ✦ Must Be Sold in a Short Period of Time. Come in and Choose Your Dream Rugs from our Multi-Million Dollar Inventory for Only a Fraction of Their Value.

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APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 29 DINING | PIE VS. PIE For Goodness’ Sake Hey, look, two pizza shops with names possibly suggesting moral character. Let’s compare and contrast!

BY Kristy Totten The Good Pie When a restaurant is named the Good Pie, and its menu is sliced into sections called The Goods, The Really Good Stuff, and Other Good Stuff, you expect it to be, well, good. This place is great. The space feels like a New York kitchen, if the kitchen belonged to an apron-wearing Italian grandmother who loved family portraits and heirloom kitchen tools. Which is fitting, because all the pizzas are “grand- ma-style,” meaning the dough is only given a short time to rise, so it gets to your mouth sooner. Cheffed by Evel Pie expat Vincent Rotolo, the Pawn Plaza eatery Downtown specializes in Brooklyn-style round pies, Detroit-style Sicilian squares, and veggie-heavy vegan options that forgo the gluey fake cheese. Instead, the shop plays up high-quality ingredients like flour and tomatoes from Italy and locally sourced toppings. The attention to detail is evident in pizzas like Dats That Good $hit ($27), with wild mushrooms, truffle oil, and ricotta piped into perfect rosettes. Honestly, it should come with a cheek-pinch- ing. 725 S Las Vegas Blvd #140, 702-844-2700, goodpie.com

30 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

Evel Pie

Stepping into this East Fremont spot feels a little like being invited into your cool uncle’s off-limits garage. It’s rad. Sure, he was a little eccentric, excessive even in his love for Evel Knievel, but the dude is still living his glory days through trophies, arcade games, and a soundtrack he definitely acquired before The Big Haircut. The gnar is only part of Evel Pie’s appeal; there is, of course, the pizza. Cheesy Rider ($24) and pepperoni ($26) are solid staples, and the specialties refer back to racing culture. Take Balls to the Wall ($28), with generous dollops of ricotta and crumbled homemade meatballs, or the World Famous Snake River Special ($27), with sausage and red peppers, an homage to the time Knievel attempted to blast over an Idaho canyon by rocket — but only because he couldn’t use his bike. Pair a slice with a beer, and you can practically hear a guitar solo in your head. Your uncle would approve. I favor Good Pie’s quality ingredients and richer flavors, but if you’re out causing late-night trouble on Fremont Street, you can do worse than refuel with a little Evel. 508 Fremont St.,702-840-6460, evelpie.com ✦

PHOTOGRAPHY Brent Holmes

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 31 STAMM’S FAVORITES

PROSCIUTTO FROM CESARE CASELLA Cured & Whey brings in many of its suppliers to demonstrate their food, such as acclaimed butcher Cesare Casella, who was in town in March. He produces prosciutto hams in rustic Upstate New York that rival any from Europe or elsewhere in North America. It might be sliced thin, but it’s packed with umami sensation. Another noted cured meat is Hudson Valley applewood-smoked duck ham, which makes its way into a sensational Reuben sandwich along with puckery sauerkraut from Mrs. Klein’s Pickle Co. of Phoenix.

AQUARELLO CARNAROLI RICE When home cooks see the word “risotto,” the picture of continually stirring a pot for 30 minutes might come to mind. Dispel that notion with Stamm’s favorite grain, Aquarello Carnaroli rice grown in Italy’s Piedmont by the mighty Po River. Dry-aged for 16 months, the flavor-laded gems can be cooked to creamy completion in 11 minutes. Nearby on the FOOD | STOREFRONT shelves, find gluten-free pasta from Pastificio Caponi.

TRUFFLE PRODUCTS BY SAVINI TARTUFI The Gourmet Life One of Stamm’s favorite product lines Cured & Whey’s J. Michael Stamm makes a mark in culinary is from the Savini family of verdant Tuscany. culture — and shares favorites from his shelves He’s been importing their fragrant truffle butter, sauce, and salt for decades. They’re BY Greg Thilmont luxurious and elegant ingredients, but a little goes a long way, making for upscale bargains. He’s also n weekdays around lunchtime, hungry Las Vegans in the know make an evangelist for DeCar- a turn off Valley View Boulevard at Post Road. There, in the vast lo extra virgin olive oil, O warehouse district west of the Strip, J. Michael Stamm’s Cured & also from Italy. Whey offers upscale deliciousness, from Andalusian quince paste to andouille sausages handcrafted in Temecula, Calif. BOSKA CHEESE- Originally from Heidelberg, Germany, Stamm first made his way to the MAKING KITS U.S. as a chef at the 1984 Summer Olympics after university studies and While it’s certainly conve- military service. Eventually, a booming Las Vegas beckoned, leading to nient to pick up a few pounds stints in hotel kitchens including Treasure Island. Then, in 1999, he began of aged curds like espresso-rubbed “Barely a wholesale supply business for Sin City chefs looking for niche ingredients. Buzzed” from Utah’s Beehive Cheese Co. or Eventually, in late 2016, he decided to open a retail storefront carrying all rind-washed “Red Hawk” Cowgirl Creamery the charcuterie, rare cheeses, and beyond that chefs serve in their eateries. at Cured & Whey, there’s also satisfaction in “We had so many chefs walk through here buying foie gras, bacon, handcrafting cheese at home. Stamm carries and cheeses,” says Stamm, sitting at one of Cured & Whey’s communal a selection of kits from Holland’s Boska for tables. “I just wanted to make the same products available to non-chefs.” making fresh mozzarella and chèvre. Other Cured & Whey, 6265 S. Valley View Blvd. #K, 702-429-3617, facebook.com/ cooking implements include Himalayan salt curedandwhey ✦ slabs for roasting meats and vegetables.

32 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 PHOTOGRAPHY Brent Holmes CHEF SCOTT CONANT INTRODUCES

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ROCK 148588 Fmwc Masso Now Open DESERT COMPANION - AO 8.375”x10.75” - 4/0 QTY: 1 RUNS: MARCH SHOP | CLASSICS he old-fashioned, non-streaming, grooved-vinyl record has experi- T enced a renaissance lately, with many artists putting out vinyl LPs for a new generation of audiophiles, The Vinyl as well as older listeners seeking analog nostalgia. Whether you’ve just bought your first turntable or have been spinning for decades, here are some local record stores Countdown that stuck it out in the age of Spotify. For Record Store Day (April 21), we’re going old-school

ZIA RECORD EXCHANGE: Zia is a good BY Jacob Lasky place for beginners — vinyl newbies can browse a lot more than records — and collectors alike. The Arizona-based pop-cul- more toward worldly vinyl — stocked with including an original, unpeeled “Butcher ture emporium has thousands of new and harder-to-come-by imports and rarities Album” version of Yesterday and Today, as vintage records at prices ranging from a — whereas the Charleston shop is more well as some Russian Fab-Four imports to few bucks to $30, as well as new and used community-based, featuring local music really take you back to the USSR. Other rare turntables, CDs, cassettes, and more. Its and artwork. 300 E. Sahara Ave. and 4555 items include a set of original Elvis Presley loyalty program means you can earn points E. Charleston Blvd., recordcityonline.com vinyl from Sun Records. The store also has toward discounts, and the stores often have occasional storefront sales where prices weekly specials. 4503 W. Sahara Ave. and MOONDOG RECORDS: At 800 square feet, drop to as low as $1. 4440 S. Maryland 4225 S. Eastern Ave., ziarecords.com Moondog might feel small, but its record Parkway, moondogrecordslv.com collection is quite the opposite. Owner RECORD CITY: Established in 1988, Record Clint McKean estimates that he has around WAX TRAX: Come only if you have a whole City is the oldest record store in Vegas. 20,000 vintage records in his shop, tucked day to kill. With more than 500,000 vin- Both locations carry thousands of new and away below the Campus Village Plaza, tage and rare records to choose from, this used records, including local releases. You across from UNLV. Records here can go for three-story house-turned-record-store is can also find select 45s and LPs ranging anywhere between $15-$60. Also on hand: mostly slanted toward serious collectors. from $1-$3. The Sahara location is geared a notable collection of rare Beatles albums, (Elton John is a regular.) When you walk

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ON THE RECORD You could set a scene from High Fidelity in 11th Street Records, left, or Wax Trax, above. Start Early. in, you’ll be greeted by Brooklynite owner Start Right. Rich Rosen — who’s been selling records Challenger School offers for more than 50 years — and a strong uniquely fun and academic aroma of aging paper record sleeves. The classes for preschool to eighth store is a labyrinth of tagless vinyl, which grade students. Rosen matches with online prices. Prices tend to be higher here, but the collection Our students learn to think will make any collector drool. Among the for themselves and to value rarities: original copies of the coveted 1967 independence. Velvet Underground & Nico, with its original banana stickers still in place, plus other The results are unmatched at any price! rare master-recording LPs from artists including Led Zeppelin and The Doors. Come see for yourself! Observe 2909 S. Decatur Blvd., waxtraxonline.com our classrooms any time—no appointment needed. 11TH STREET RECORDS: This is great stop for anyone wandering Downtown before a show at the Bunkhouse or drinks at Atomic Liquors. The store carries new and used records spanning genres, but has a strong collection of post-punk and alternative LPs and 45s. You’ll also find a small selection of local records. Prices can be a little steep here, but 11th Street has a loyalty program for regulars. The back of the store houses the impressive National Southwest Recording studio, in which The Killers recorded their album Wonderful Wonderful. 1023 Fremont St., 11thstreetrecords.com An independent private school offering preschool through eighth grade

VEGAS VINYL: With a few exceptions, this Desert Hills 410-7225 Los Prados 839-1900 is a record store with thrift store and garage 8175 West Badura Avenue 5150 North Jones Boulevard sale prices. In this hidden gem you’ll find close to 15,000 used records neatly organized Green Valley 990-7300 Summerlin 878-6418 in milk crates, with an average price between 1725 East Serene Avenue 9900 Isaac Newton Way $2-$8. There’s also a selection of rare items, including an autographed copy of Elton John’s autobiographical 1975 album Captain Inspiring Children to Achieve Since 1963 Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. 1641 © 2018, Challenger Schools Challenger School admits students of any race, color, and national or ethnic origin. E. Sunset Road, vegasvinylrecords.com ✦

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HISTORY lush island in Montreal’s Saint Lawrence River, Piquet managed to narrow Reute- mann’s lead in the championship standings to just one point. The championship would be decided in the final race. The plan at the start of the season was for the racing teams to travel south into New York, where the season finale would be held at the legendary Watkins Glen circuit. OFF TRACK But after the track went bankrupt in May, following a long struggle to afford Formula Nearly 40 years ago, Formula One racing roared into One’s pricey requirements, organizers were Las Vegas. The result was a spectacle — just not the one forced to improvise. The opening round of racers were hoping for the season had taken place on the streets of Long Beach, and so organizers tapped BY Ian Whitaker the race’s American promoter, Chris Pook, to throw together a last-minute race in the United States. And so was born one of the strangest events in racing history: the ormula One’s 1981 season was a strange one. A leader failed to Caesars Palace Grand Prix.

emerge for most of the seven months, despite fierce competi- NEED FOR Carved into the casino parking lot and tion during more than a dozen races around Europe and South SPEED ringed by drab concrete barriers, the com- F The gentlemen America. But in the final third of the season, just as the sport’s pletely flat, 2.2-mile course constantly dou- started their traveling circus of mechanics, journalists, and racing-inclined glitterati engines for the bled in on itself, the result of having to fit a lot was preparing to make the trip across the Atlantic for the final two races Caesars Palace of track in the tight space between the Strip Grand Prix on in Canada and America, three contenders emerged: Carlos Reutemann October 17, 1981. and Interstate 15. The start/finish straight- from Argentina, the Frenchman Jacques Laffite, and Nelson Piquet, a away sliced right through what are today the

notoriously prickly Brazilian. In the rainy penultimate round, held on a Forum Shops. The remainder wound around BUREAU NEWS VEGAS OF THE LAS COURTESY PHOTOGRAPHY

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When you hold your gathering at the empty scrubland that would later become to, and hotter than what drivers had trained the site of the Mirage. Organizers laid new for. Exhaustion was a common complaint in University of Nevada, Las Vegas, tarmac and had taxicabs drive the circuit practices leading up to the race. There was you’re getting more than affordability. to smooth it out. Construction reportedly something else wrong, too: Neither locals You’re getting modern, sustainable took around 45 days and cost $3.5 million. nor high-rollers were showing up. facilities with a focus on ﬂexibility and Conveniently, the event coincided with Legendary English F1 correspondent Formula One’s ongoing pivot to television Nigel Roebuck stayed at the MGM Grand, accessibility. From camps and and the lucrative advertising that went with now Bally’s, during the race weekend. He competitions to conferences and it. It was hyped more than any other race recalled being asked by a gambler what all events, you will ﬁnd UNLV is the in recent memory, according to journalists the fuss was about. When he explained it who flocked to Caesars in the days leading was the race that would settle the World smartest option. up to the event. NBC went all out, airing a Championship, the man scoffed, “I wouldn’t promo featuring melodramatic slow-mo even care if it was the American champion- footage of the drivers over Neil Diamond’s ship.” The local response seemed to add up “Coming to America.” They even hired Mark to one big shrug. The glamour and European Thatcher, son of Margaret Thatcher and a chic of Formula One had met the gauche motorsport enthusiast in his own right, as inelegance of a desert mob town, and the T: 702.895.4449 a pit-lane reporter. response was about as you’d expect. W: unlv.edu/eventservices But things didn’t go so smoothly. For one, “It was like Romanée-Conti (an expensive even in October the desert heat proved far French wine) in a plastic beaker,” Roebuck E: [email protected] less comfortable than the mild continental wrote in 2012. “Most people in Vegas found

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40 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

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THE WHEEL DEAL Clockwise from opposite top: A view of the pits; Mario Andretti and Sammy Davis Jr. hang with Caesars President Harry Wald before the race; also present: Cool Hand Luke; winner Alan Jones GIVE US YOUR takes a corner; and mounts the winner’s stand — time for the champers! BEST SHOT! to settle their rolls of fat on stools and feed quarters into machines.” The race itself fared only slightly better. Reutemann squandered pole position in the first corner, falling several places before being passed by Piquet. From there, the Brazilian just had to finish ahead of Reutemann to become world champion, which he did, but not before throwing up in his helmet due to the heat and having to be dragged out of his car. As a piece of television, the race also fell flat. Camera operators frequently lost Submissions deadline track of drivers, leaving viewers at home to miss key moments of the race. NBC APRIL 9 cut from a commercial at the last minute, catching Australian Alan Jones just as he OVER $4,000 IN PRIZES crossed the finish line to win the race. For spectators braving the desert heat to watch in person, concrete barriers were apparently Prizes provided by so high that on some parts of the track only For full guidelines, contest drivers’ helmets could be seen. To top it off, rules and prizes, visit: Thatcher, whose security detail followed DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS him all across town during the weekend,

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 41 HISTORY

apparently made a fool of himself in pit-lane races — both of which are available in full Monster Energy may be a literal world interviews. on YouTube — one only glimpses flashes of away from the likes of Longines, Parmalat, Most drivers could barely contain their sand, concrete, and the occasional distant and Santander, all is not lost for Formula hatred of the track. Gazzetta Dello Sport, an highway, hardly an advertisement for a One in Vegas. Liberty Media, an American Italian daily based in Milan, quoted Jacques must-visit international destination. At the media conglomerate, bought the sport’s Laffite in an article lambasting the circuit, very least, the affair resulted in more than commercial rights in 2016. One of its first which included the phrase “ridiculous a few memorable images for moves was to renew dormant go-kart track.” For that, the newspaper was Vegas lore-keepers, such as Fed- plans for another street race in slapped with a $10 million lawsuit from eration Internationale du Sport America. Vegas is back on the Caesars, alleging “flimsy and unprofes- Automobile (then the sport’s Most drivers short list, as are Miami, New sional journalism.” Jones, who had already governing body) president and could barely York, and L.A. announced his retirement, called it “a goat French motorsport aristocrat contain their “The U.S. is all upsides for hatred of the track, dragged down from the mountains Jean-Marie Balestre on the track. Jones us,” F1’s new CEO, Chase Car- and flattened out. What a bloody place to be winner’s podium alongside the called it “a goat ey, told NBC a year ago. “We ending your career …” And though the race customary bottle of Moët and track, dragged haven’t invested in it the way stayed on the calendar for one more season, a Caesars employee dressed in down from the we need to, to build the U.S. it couldn’t escape its first impression. It was legionnaire garb. mountains and market.” dropped after 1982. In an interview with the Fast-forward to the present, flattened out.” It’s an inherently fraught Austin American-Statesman in 2012, Pook and Vegas has now fallen in endeavor, given the checkered maintained that the fault lay not with the love with auto racing, albeit fate of Formula One’s efforts in track but the casinos. He told the paper, at the opposite end of the U.S. cities, but it also has the “Caesars didn’t reach out. There was not fandom. The city is firmly on board with potential to be a huge untapped market as a relationship with the other casinos. It’s NASCAR, whose premier stock-car series wealth and people centralize in metropoli- really, really important that everyone is now runs two races each year at Las Vegas tan areas. Look no further than Singapore, behind a race.” Motor Speedway, in addition to events which hosted its first Formula One race on In retrospect, some have criticized the from lower series. But while sponsors the streets of glitzy Marina Bay in 2008. The track’s lack of sex appeal. Watching the two like Budweiser, NAPA Auto Parts, and race is visually stunning. Taking place at

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42 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS night, cars compete under the glare of lights to a deal on a new race that Formula One’s plans were never released and the effort and the city’s opulent resorts, including designers had a working track layout that appears to have fizzled. Sheldon Adelson’s Marina Bay Sands. It’s a they claimed would not impact resorts. In the meantime, a solution may have great advertisement for the South Asian city- “Closing down the Strip happens mul- been quietly found in the lap of another state, but Liberty is an American company tiple times a year,” Shidfar told Forbes. big-money industry: eSports, which has with media holdings in cities that have the “For New Year’s Eve it happens, for the close ties with Las Vegas and rakes in more iconic skylines the luxury crowd is willing Rock and Roll marathon it happens, and than a billion dollars each year. Formula to splash cash in. Will Vegas again be one of for special events. There’s a NASCAR E, the all-digital racing series organized by them? It’s hard to say; nothing concrete has event with cars going down the Strip. It the same governing body as Formula One, been announced, though it’s hard to imagine happens for hours.” held a race between professional drivers the factors that doomed Sin City’s race in Supporters latched onto his words as and amateurs. But instead of shutting the first place will have disappeared in 40 proof the race was possible, but in doing so down public roads for weeks, they simply years. There’s also the question of traffic they tended to ignore the reality. A race itself booked a ballroom at the Venetian during in a city with almost no public transport. might last only a day, but a Formula One the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show. In 2014, prior to the Americans taking Grand Prix goes for an entire weekend. That The race was conducted on computer over, an effort headed by tech entrepreneur includes practice and qualifying sessions simulators, all on a virtual Strip circuit Farid Shidfar purported to sidestep these on Friday and Saturday, and finally the race that stretched between Mandalay Bay problems. Shidfar, who previously worked on Sunday. And that’s saying nothing of and New York-New York. on the launch of The Cosmopolitan, claimed the time it takes the city to erect barriers, The winner was a 22-year-old Dutchman he had secured a promise of $150 million set up pit-lane facilities and grandstands. named Bono Huis. Also competing: Nelson from unnamed Chinese investors in Beijing A race on or near the Strip could mean Piquet Jr., son of the Brazilian who, 36 years who wanted to see a race on the Strip. He was shutting down public streets for up to a earlier, won his first Formula One World Cham- also given an official go-ahead from the Las month (setup for the Monaco Grand Prix pionship in the parking lot across the street. ✦ Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, as lasts six weeks, plus three more for tear- well as Governor Brian Sandoval, who looked down). That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, Information in this story is drawn from at the race as an opportunity for economic but it’s doubtful in the absence of a publicly the archives of Motor Sport magazine and diversification. He was apparently so close released track layout. Suffice to say, those crash.net, among other sources.

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 43 44 Q&A NOT OK COMPUTER

In an era of fake news, email overload, and cyber-bullying, a UNLV prof’s timely book asks us to resist the techno-flood

BY Jarret Keene

t’s fun to test a college professor. After reading a few chapters from Simon I Gottschalk’s new book, The Terminal Self: Everyday Life in Hypermodern Times (Routledge), I emailed him late on a Friday to see if he’d walk the talk. Would he instantly reply (F)? Or would he wait until Monday (A-plus) and resist our culture’s “increasingly pervasive and mandatory interaction with terminals”? After all, according to the UNLV sociology professor, to fully be alive and human, we should avoid adjusting to “terminal logic.” Well, he aced my informal exam. Gottschalk has studied the social and psychological impact of our increasingly online lives for several years. His thoughts on the subject of our computer-mediated moments are gathered in a book that hinges on the double meaning of the word terminal, which means “access point” (desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, watches, etc.) and also “end of life.” As he notes in his introduction, scholars who study technology’s impact on society are increasingly reaching a similar conclusion: “We cannot realistically continue along the trajectories we are currently racing along. If we do, we will bring about the terminal phase in the life of the planet and of humanity.” Gottschalk recently sat down, face-to-face, to talk about what it means to be alive in — and to survive — our hypermodern times.

Your book examines how we are transformed through interaction with computer terminals, and your conclusion is dour. Did you feel any emotional catharsis in highlighting humanity’s tragic embrace of terminal logic? I’ve been reading about it and researching it and writing about it for such a long time that it was only cathartic when I finished the

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book, because it took me so long. A lot of the est I got to optimism was when I conducted time, when I talk with everyday people — my research in the social virtual space known dentist, my chiropractor, friends at the store as Second Life years ago. Back then, Second — and they ask me what I’m doing, I mention Life was booming. Everybody was jumping my ideas, and what I notice is everyone has in. The Swedish embassy, Yale and Harvard, Financial options a story in their everyday lives that confirms and the Democratic Party were establish- what I’ve learned. And I mean nonacademic ing virtual representation in Second Life. for every phase people from completely different quarters, You could even enroll in courses at Cornell who live completely different lives than we University in Second Life. And yes, it had so of your life do in Las Vegas — I ’m talking about places much virtual promise, but you could easily like France, Belgium, Israel. The way they see how it could end up becoming a virtual tend to react is this: My book makes sense playground for people who had the means to them because they see themselves and and the knowledge. So I was optimistic, but I their experiences in The Terminal Self. also saw it could go the other way and become nothing, or nothing liberating. Because I Let’s discuss one of your ideas, namely network with the institutes that study online that we shouldn’t surrender to the behavior, such as the Pew Research Center’s expectation of instant accessibility. Internet & American Life Project — they The reason I wrote the book is to hopefully interview me for their yearly report — I raise awareness about what we’ve normalized learned that respondents are, on balance, and what we take for granted, and to remind equally optimistic and pessimistic. The ourselves that the mind-blowing conditions research report lately suggests, however, in which we live are extremely recent in that people are growing more pessimistic human history. The phone is a party at our about the internet. So the tone of the book is fingertips, but we pay a price. I’m trying not influenced by my own psychological under- Whether you want to save for to surrender. I want to control my time and standing, and by what I see experts do and the future, secure a personal space boundaries. The fact that technology think and what researchers find. loan, utilize exclusive online and functions on demand doesn’t mean people do. telephone banking services, or Sure, anyone has the capability of contacting What do you think of France’s efforts me Saturday night at 11, but don’t expect me to ban business emails on the weekends enjoy the convenience of our to be available and accessible. What technolo- and holidays? ATMs and many locations, we gies bring about is the expectation of constant I think it’s awesome. There is a firm in are here for you. Call, click, or instant accessibility, and that’s madness. No Germany where, if you send a work-related stop by and talk with a banker. one can live like that. I have a student doing email after hours, it automatically bounces her dissertation on how graduate students back, telling you that their employees are prefer to communicate when learning about not just out of office, but that the message wellsfargo.com academic deadlines and activities. Even you sent will not be delivered. If it’s abso- though we as professors communicate with lutely urgent, there’s a number you can call. students more and more online, it doesn’t But here’s my own example: Even if I don’t seem to work. My student’s task is to find out respond to my emails over the weekend, by what works and what students want to see Monday morning I’ve accumulated more and what turns them away. As I wrote in my than 20 emails in my inbox that require a book, on an average day, during the spring response. That’s not fair. Instead, why not semester of last year, at 9 a.m., I had received consider how much our lives would improve 75 emails. And it’s estimated that the average if we thought about existing in a time where American worker spends 23 percent of the we can’t send emails after-hours? Imagine day just managing email. So if we don’t resist, you’re my graduate student and you’re on a the flow of information will only increase. romantic date and you’re about to settle into We should resist, not because it’s annoying dinner. Then I send you an email saying to or overwhelming or taking too much time, please review the exam that I plan to give on but because constant communication with Monday. How would it make you feel? You faceless others is affecting us in deeper, more wouldn’t like it, of course. On my syllabi I profound ways. tell my students: “I’m off the grid during these times, so don’t even try emailing me Come on, surely, you weren’t always after hours.” this cautionary about being online. There’s still so much digital utopianism I feel after reading your book that you All loans are subject to application, credit out there. Were you ever on board feel terminals are like guns insofar qualification, and income verification. with the belief in the internet’s liber- as they really aren’t neutral. They’re © 2017 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights ating, equalizing potential? not just tools. reserved. Member FDIC. (3686202_19725) It wasn’t unbridled optimism, but the clos- Terminals are not neutral. They medi-

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ate what makes us most human, which is desire or emotion without assessing how the terminal gives us, the omnipresence. communication and interaction. You don’t you sound to someone else. You are disin- We forget that this particular condition is have a choice. To accomplish anything, you hibited, and part of growing up is learning completely new in society. It’s a tremendous need to access a terminal. You want to find to inhibit your impulses. But this is really amount of power, and we don’t manage it a job, you want to book a plane or concert the premise of “instanteity,” or living in an well. It’s a child’s game to learn how to use ticket, then you need a terminal. Very simple instant culture that offers everything you a terminal, but it takes incredible maturity functions, where before you only needed want when you want it, as long as it’s virtual. to know how to use terminals properly so a wallet and your physical presence, now In that way, too, it infantilizes. The internet we can manage the consequences. What we require terminals. We have to sync our mind doesn’t require us to do much. It gives us write can become embarrassingly public. We to terminal logic. Our minds are digested the answer before we type it. It figures out communicate, but what we communicate by software. The research suggests that, ahead of us what will please us. That way of in a particular moment, which we believe when we access the internet and interact life nurtures an infantile mindset. exists only in that moment, becomes locked, with terminals, even for just a short time, it frozen, retrieved, recontextualized. That’s quickly changes the structure of our brains, It’s weird to see so many people I know, a disconnect, the experience of immedi- and we really don’t know the extent to which who used to claim they cherished free acy and permanence, intimacy and mass it affects us. But I’m sure that it does. So speech, now shrilly calling for internet distribution. what is the cost? censorship. It’s like they’ve regressed. The internet is a poor medium to debate How do we start to repair this? Well, we can see the cost all around issues. Hostility flares up really quickly The philosopher Emmanuel Levinas says us. Look at how people behave on online. Topics can be very contentious and that only in face-to-face communication Twitter. Look at the public shaming problematic, but they’re also, as someone can we experience the humanity of another we conduct in the name of social I know calls them, machine-generated person. A human face needs our assistance. justice or in the process of Making scandals. The terminal is really effective in When we see a human face, we feel a sense America Great Again. spreading an emotional contagion. Every- of responsibility to help. Empathy tends to Online, you can be invisible and anon- one attacks a person who says something disappear at the terminal, where we find ymous, which lends itself to antisocial wrong. And so many mistakes stem from it easier to quickly humiliate or disgrace behavior. You can transmit any passing miscues. We forget about the unique power someone else. ✦

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ESSAY hen Amazon announced a a public hearing. A public-records request competition late last year for the state’s offer by a Review-Journal W to find a host city for its reporter was flatly denied, though the shiny new headquarters, point ended up being moot: The company the response was swift. Officials in more revealed its shortlist of cities in January, than 230 cities stumbled over themselves and Las Vegas failed to make the cut. Some WHOSE to cobble together flashy PR campaigns information about the state’s proposal for the inevitable social-media blitz. Here has trickled out since then, including in Las Vegas, they fired off tweets, lit up the news that city officials had offered buildings in Amazon orange, and coughed to give the company 84 acres of public up a schmaltzy promotional video adver- land Downtown — including Cashman MONEY? tising Las Vegas. Field and the Las Vegas Natural History “A mecca for youthful, fresh energy,” a Museum — entirely for free if Amazon met voiceover says, without a hint of irony, as certain unspecified conditions. When public money is the video cuts to a shot of the monorail. This isn’t new. In recent years, Nevada flung at private companies The one thing they didn’t do, however, lawmakers have put billions of taxpayer without public input, guess was tell anyone what they were actually dollars on the line to court large corpo- who loses? offering the company in exchange for the rations. The one constant, aside from the new facility. The proposal sent to Amazon extraordinary sums involved, is a curious BY Ian Whitaker was concocted by public officials entirely in cold-shouldering of the public. But why? secret, and forwarded without so much as You can follow the crumbs all the way back

. 50 | DESERT COMPANION APRIL 2018 PHOTO ILLUSTRATION Brent Holmes DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS to the recession of the early ’80s. Having convinced officials in South Dakota to scrap laws against predatory interest rates in exchange for building a credit-card processing facility there, Citicorp, now Citigroup, tried the same with Nevada. According to a 2015 retrospective in Vegas Inc., then-Gov. Richard Bryan returned from a meeting at the company headquarters in New York with whispers of a similar grand deal. At the urging of executives and pro-business groups, a special legislative session was called that spring. It took only a day to bulldoze the banking regulations keeping Citicorp out of the state, during which lawmakers were inundated with credit card offers addressed from the company’s newly minted South Dakota offices. In return, Citicorp built a processing center on West Sahara Avenue, and Bryan promised the company would become “an active participant in community affairs.” The company was so grateful that it quickly removed all traces of Las Vegas from its paperwork, preferring the more wholesome, corporate-friendly “The Lakes, NV.” The company stayed until 2014, when it laid nearly everyone off and skipped town, but suffice to say Las Vegas never became the burgeoning finance hub many claimed it would. That was a long time ago, but what ultimately survived was the blitzkrieg political strategy that made it possible, of stuffing IT’S EASY the public full of curated optimism and buzzwords like “jobs” and “diversification,” all while the real business is hashed out in closed-door boardrooms. BEING The boring name for this is economic development, but before your eyes glaze RECYCLING over, consider that economic development GREEN. is tax policy. It’s more than government bean-counters deciding where to stick a D Y traffic light or elementary school. It’s largely • Shred old paperwork unelected business boosters — Steve Hill, • Recycle glass, aluminum, plastic, cardboard outgoing chairman of Nevada’s economic • Bring your old computers, cell phones, development office, ran a gravel compa- appliances and more ny — diverting public money that would May 05 • Donate clothes, jewelry, housewares, home decor, etc. otherwise go to creating public goods, to 8 a.m. to noon PILL TAKE BACK. Turn in your unused or expired play a risky game of commercial chicken medications for safe confidential disposal and with other states. What’s worse, there’s no destruction. We will even take the prescription bottle. real evidence that it benefits anyone other MORE INFORMATION AT KNPR.ORG than the recipient. FREE! “There is a role for competition among states when it takes the form of a general PRESENTING SPONSOR tax-and-spend policy,” economists for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis concluded in 1995. “But when that com- RECYCLING SPONSORS PARTICIPATING SPONSORS petition takes the form of preferential treatment for specific businesses, not only is it not ‘admirable,’ it interferes with

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 51 ESSAY

interstate commerce and undermines the billion Tesla Gigafactory deal followed much as a working prototype of a car. national economic union by misallocating in similar style. According to journalist The company ended up giving the money resources and causing states to provide too Jon Ralston’s detailed account, the initial back and leaving, but, as Patrick George few public goods.” idea was concocted behind the scenes of the website Jalopnik wrote, “(O)ne has As is often the case in government, by then-Senate Majority Leader Harry to wonder how much taxpayer money was when high-stakes wheeling Reid, Gov. Brian Sandoval, spent overall in this debacle that went and dealing rubs up against and Tesla owner Elon Musk, nowhere and brought no new jobs to a the public’s inherent distrust, and hashed out in negotiations region that badly needs them.” the result is simply to keep As is often the with unelected state economic By the time the Oakland Raiders rolled affairs hidden. case in govern- development officers. All this around, the “precedent” that so worried ment, when high- In 2012, when Apple sought stakes wheeling before anyone in the public some in government had all but become tax abatements for a new data and dealing rubs even knew enough to be in standard practice. The plan for a $2 billion center in Sparks, executives up against the favor or opposed. stadium near the Strip was sloppily work- met with public officials in public’s inherent “I feel so cheap and used,” a shopped into existence by a board of mostly secret and actively kept the distrust, the political insider told Ralston unelected gaming executives, working off company’s name off agendas result is simply following the Tesla vote. “While imaginary economic projections that one and public documents until to keep affairs I truly appreciate the bene- economist called “a catenation of optimistic just three hours before the hidden. fits of this deal for Northern assumptions,” as well as “the worst deal for a Washoe County Commission Nevada jobs and revenue, it’s city I have ever seen.” After a rushed initial met to consider the issue. quite a hefty price. Does this process that offered few opportunities for According to reporters, the discussion set precedent?” widespread public input, the deal was then lasted 20 minutes before commissioners The list goes on, from Hyperloop 1, passed during the literal dead of night in a unanimously approved $89 million in which received $9 million in tax breaks, show of brute-force lobbying so depressing abatements and then posed for photos to automotive startup Faraday Future, that sitting legislators openly commiser- with executives. which received $335 million from the ated, and despite polls that showed most The deal-making behind 2014’s $1.3 state without having to prove it had so people opposed the deal.

52 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS

None of that seemed to bother Sandoval, icans are more disconnected than ever In a state that consistently ranks among who declared it a win for Las Vegas’ “brand.” from the political process. According to the lowest in the country for political After all, it was Sandoval himself who out- the Pew Research Center, months after participation, perhaps it’s time to rethink lined the approach at a 2012 meeting of Richard Nixon resigned the presidency for our approach. the business group Keystone Corporation. his involvement in the Watergate scandal, Companies like Amazon may have a long Speaking to an audience gathered at the the share of Americans who list of demands — the company Silverton, he described economic devel- held trust in government hov- used the word “incentives” 21 opment as a “contact sport,” arguing that ered around 36 percent — more times in the proposal it sent to Nevada needed to compete if it wanted to than 10 points higher than it Companies like states — but so do citizens. In “be in the game.” was during the whole of Barack Amazon may Nevada, for starters: better ed- have a long list Which is exactly how it has unfolded. Obama’s presidency. of demands — ucation and better healthcare. Politicians and titans of industry duke it A CBS poll in 2011 found the company Instead of giving away the farm, out for high stakes, while the public looks on that voters believed they used the word why not make it a real negotia- from the bleachers. It all makes for a good themselves wielded the small- “incentives” tion and demand something in metaphor, but hardly good democracy. As est influence on politics. The 21 times in the return? It can’t hurt; after all, professors Alan Peters and Peter Fisher from report concluded, “eight in proposal it sent most media outlets eliminated the University of Iowa wrote in the Journal 10 believe most members of to states — but so Las Vegas from the Amazon of the American Planning Association in Congress are primarily in- do citizens. race early on. 2004, “Continuing on the path of traditional terested in serving special We might not have landed incentive-based economic development interests, not the people they the deal, but we just might have policy will simply produce an unending ostensibly represent.” Frustrated, people come away with something arguably as merry-go-round of tax cuts and subsidies stop caring, disengage, and merely watch valuable: our dignity and sense of commu- whose net effect is to starve government of politics play out as spectators. Obviously nity. And it might have set an example for the resources it needs.” there’s more to this phenomenon than citizens in other states locked perpetually And the problem might not be solely fiscal. secretive public-money giveaways, but in the same self-defeating cycle to start Mounting evidence suggests that Amer- they certainly feed into it. making demands of their own. ✦

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Prices shown are estimated base prices, do not include lot premiums or options and are subject to change without notice. Please see a sales consultant for details. Photographs depict models containing features or designs that may not be available on all homes or that may be available for an additional cost. Community Association fees required. This material shall not constitute a valid offer in any state where prior registration is required or if void by law. Pulte Homes® and Life Tested® are trademarks of PN II, Inc. More Life Built In SM is a service mark of PN II, Inc. Pulte Home Company, LLC is a licensed Nevada real estate broker (lic. #B.0144746) 7255 S Tenaya Way, Suite 200, Las Vegas, NV 89113 (702)914-4800, NMLS Entity Identifier #1007381-240. © 2018 Pulte Home Company, LLC. All rights reserved. 3/6/2018 Life, Style, Soul & Design These Las Vegans have different looks and diverse tastes — but each has a distinct vision of beauty that comes alive in both dress and decor

PHOTOGRAPHY: Robert John Kley STYLIST: Christie Moeller HAIR & MAKEUP: Keely Zelanka and Krystal Randall (Farhan Naqvi)

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 55 Cocktail Time Machine Ralph Brinkley’s Paradise Palms home is a shrine to the swinging ’60s

TO SAY YOU enter a time machine when you step across the threshold of Ralph Brinkley’s home doesn’t quite do the experience justice, but I’m rolling with that metaphor because you really do feel a viscerally uncanny, neck-tin- gling suspicion that linear time is playing a trick on you. Brinkley has turned his 1964 home in Paradise Palms into a living shrine to the swinging ’60s, from the mod couches and drip paintings of seaside it look good.” That entailed invitingly dim, cozy speakeasy scenes to plastic grapes and furnishing and decorating the tucked down a hallway, com- Bakelite rotary phones. inside with items methodically plete with a Wurlitzer jukebox Ralph is wearing a “I’m not hardcore about bought from Craigslist, estate and cig machine. “When I’m vintage sports coat, keeping to the era,” he says. “I’m sales, and eBay. Other elements, out, just living my normal life, custom monogrammed hardcore about keeping to the like the bar in the living room, I don’t think about this stuff,” shirt, Edwards vibe.” Brinkley bought the 2,100 he built himself. he says. “I just think about slacks, and Stacy square foot home in a short But this isn’t a mere museum. shopping, paying bills, getting Baldwin Oxfords. sale in 2012. “When I bought Brinkley’s home has literally food, cleaning. But when the it, cosmetically, it was ham- become the toast of Paradise sun goes down, it’s time to put mered. Trash. But everything Palms, hosting raucous cocktail that stuff away. Then all this worked, so I just had to make parties whose epicenter is the comes alive.”

56 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 57 Beloved Eclectic Kate Aldrich and Tim Shaffer’s home is a perfect storm of curated delight

KATE ALDRICH AND Tim Shaffer own Patina Decor, a vintage clothing, furniture and accessory store Down- town. You might think this means they have a kind of cheat code when it comes to home design, given that their livelihood is to trade in beautiful things such as Italian art-glass mushroom lamps, sleek Milo Baughman chrome dining chairs, and Cartier bronze and leather letter desks. Actually, it makes decorating harder, because it requires them to apply an even finer and more deliberate curatorial filter when it comes to beautifying their living space. That was a hypothesis, anyway, which Tim blows out of the water with, “Oh, we just put this look together out of items we love. It’s all kind of in a modern design, but it’s not really intentional.” Kate says, “It’s piece-by-piece acquisition of things that speak to us, and somehow they all work together. But we’re all over the board, really, when it comes to what our taste is.” That “somehow” is magic. Each room in their 1963 Rancho Park home is an ad hoc whirlwind of beauty, history and variety in design,

58 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS composed but not contrived, signature look is a vintage pleasingly crowded but not caftan accented with striking cluttered. I’m sitting in their earrings and bracelets. Tim cozy, wood-paneled evening favors a studied casual look with Kate is wearing a cotton linen caftan room, in a handsome Florence cotton shirts, jeans and Italian and hand-painted Knoll chair, in front of a severe, boots that smolder with rugged porcelain Dutch slablike Paul McCobb coffee verve. That makes them not earrings. table, surrounded by bustling just the owners of Patina, but Tim is wearing a Mexican modernist paintings its style ambassadors — a fitting chambray shirt, Levi’s 501s and and shapely pottery; the whole role since they’ve shifted the Italian boots. scene is a pleasing dance of store’s focus to vintage clothing. angles and curves. Kate’s summary of her philos- “I need to have beauty around ophy pertains to home design me,” Kate says. “I need to have as much as personal style; and, that sense of aesthetic around like her style, it’s simple but me, and so does Tim.” She wraps striking: “I don’t have things I herself in it — literally: Kate’s don’t love.”

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 59 PERHAPS YOU’VE SEEN me that I can.” The details are attorney Farhan Naqvi’s where the flair comes in, like face beaming from a freeway in the wide peak lapels on his billboard — the red-carpet bespoke Stitched suit — a pair smile, the lustrous pomp. I’m of exclamation points livening happy to report that he’s just up a sober, classic look — or like that in real life, and also the checked Tom Ford tie that not like that at all. adds some visual texture. The He’s like that in the sense mandate to look good came that, yes, in person, he’s as im- from family, but was rooted peccably coiffed and assembled in ideas of professionalism. as his image on the billboard. (His grandfather, a high-rank- He’s not like that in the sense ing police officer in Pakistan, of what such a billboard might took pride in his trim uniform typically imply — namely, an ego and well-polished boots.) For that matches the dimensions of Naqvi, owner of a personal his advertising space. Today, injury law firm, it’s not just he’s walking around his home about projecting an image, but Farhan is wearing a custom suit from Stitched, Tom Ford in The Ridges, describing his establishing trust. pocket square, Cartier watch, and Tom Ford shoes. decor and clothes and overall “Dressing well says to peo- aesthetic with a sense of flat- tered surprise, as though he’d been waiting a long time for someone to ask him about it. “What’s important for me is timelessness. I don’t want to do anything with my personal style or my office or my home that’s a date-and-time stamp, you know?” His style emphasizes funda- mentals with flair. For example, the base palette for his suits is black, white, and gray. “They’re the colors you wear for signif- icant occasions, and I like to dress like that every day,” he says. “I’m not blessed with George Clooney or Brad Pitt-type looks, but I try to be the best

A Flair For the Classic Farhan Naqvi’s timeless, modern aesthetic goes beyond mere image

60 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS me. And if he cares about his style, maybe he cares about this community as well, and cares about doing good things, and about making sure that things are done the right way.” His home, designed and built by Blue Heron, is spacious but not sprawling, and boasts clean, handsome lines. “I wanted it to look good, but I wanted it to be a home. I like modern, but I don’t necessarily like airport terminal modern. I like warm modern.” Various elements — the glammy eggshell sculptures on the east wall, the Buddha images, the ple, ‘If this guy is willing to wall of family photos — soften polish his shoes and tie that the spaces. It strikes a similar knot in a strong way, and wear balance to his look: simple and a three-piece suit, it shows strong with dashes of person- he cares about his style — ality. He says, “When I’m old, and if he cares about his style, I want my kids to look at my hopefully he cares about the photos and be like, ‘That could way he’s going to take care of still be cool today.’”

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 61 THERE’S SWEET SAGE “as long as I’ve known you, smoke wafting and Neil you’ve always worn vintage Young is pealing on the re- Wrangler denim shirts.” cord player. Candace Camp- “I grew up listening to Neil Old bell, a hair stylist, and Steven Young and Crosby, Stills and Tankersley, a bartender and Nash — you know, into that musician, are in their 30s, whole California country-rock Souls but here they are living in kind of thing,” he explains. Inside Candace Campbell 1972. “I’ve just always felt It’s not an affectation; their like a hippie,” Candace says. look and feel is sort of a cos- and Steven Tankersley’s “Even in high school, I was mic mode that favors of the always ‘that weird girl.’ I’ve sturdiness of tradition. Their free and easy Westleigh always felt myself in the more Westleigh bungalow is stocked bungalow ’70s stuff — flowy dresses with estate-sale finds and and bell bottoms always felt vintage scores — including a more natural, and not like I monstrous, handsome console was dressing in an era. And record player — that gives it all you,” she says to Steven, a warm, unfussy geniality.

62 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS Candace is wearing a Fillyboo dress and Alex and Ani bracelets.

Steven is wearing a Wrangler denim shirt with pearl snaps, Levi’s selvedge jeans, and Red Wing boots.

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 63 Happy Accidents There’s a story in every nook and cranny of Pamela Pereira’s home

WHO SAYS HOME design has to be serious? The Down- town apartment of 33-year- old Pamela Pereira crackles with camp and strangeness — there’s a taxidermied baby alligator sitting on the back of her couch, after all. (Lonnie Hammargren estate auction, represent.) Ask her about it all and she looks around the room in smil- ing bafflement. “It’s all kind of accidental,” she says. “I’ve been collecting for a long time. There’s not really any rhyme or reason to it. If it stands out, I’m gonna get it. It can be anywhere from little hands to doll heads — I love doll parts, actually — but, yeah, I just like things that are kooky.” She might be underselling her instinct for composition, which gives the thrift-store improv jazz a solid beat. “I want to come home

64 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS and see all the things I’ve put together and curated, and feel comfortable and happy. I’m creating a space for me to survive, and I want it to be fun and inviting and colorful.” Psychedelic Jesus art. Antlers and skulls. Head sculptures and a deliciously campy needlepoint vista of a Utah desert scene. “I mean, gosh, when you come home, don’t you want to feel like you’re in your own sanctuary palace surrounded by all your treasures?” She dresses like a gothpunk witch — lots of black, long nails, severe bangs. “I just like to dress my body in a way that makes me feel good and sexy and powerful and unapproachable and mean-looking, I guess. I have anxiety, and I don’t really want people to talk to me,” she Pamela is says with a laugh. It’s no less a wearing a vintage sanctuary than her quirky, busy, bell-sleeve dress and scarab beetle cheerful apartment. pendant.

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 65 “I LOVE A cha-cha dress. let the architecture show since, Who doesn’t love a cha-cha obviously, the big draw of The dress?” Erin Draper muses Juhl is the panoramic windows. as she considers her walk-in So, I try to just let that shine, closet, a happy riot of mood and keep everything else to a and persona, dresses and minimum.” That selectivity shoes. “I feel like everything means just about every piece in here is a reflection of my has a story, from the lamp made style. I like classics with a from a repurposed funeral urn little bit of an edge, or a little (she got it in Thailand), to a bit of a twist. But if some- stylized painting of a wom- thing’s beautiful or catches an sunbathing (it’s based on my eye, I’m not going to get a photograph of her mother too caught up in whether it from the 1960s). One exception: matches my style or not. I’m her love of lilies. They burgeon just going to go for it.” Thus, from vases and fill the room for example, several improb- with scent – another flourish, able pairs of Nike Air Force another riff. “You can probably 1s studding the collection tell I’m drunk on flowers at any like punch lines. The impulse given time.” to improvised riffing makes sense; before moving to Las Vegas two years ago for work (she manages marketing for a wine and spirit importer), Erin did comedy in Chicago. Her principled spontaneity applies as well to the decor of her condo at The Juhl high-rise Downtown. It’s a collection of inspired, well-chosen flourishes that offer sensuous intrigue, from the curvy white twin sofas to purple velvet Brno dining chairs. Call it feminine minimalism. “In this space, you want to

‘Go For It’ Erin Draper’s look is all about selective spontaneity

66 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS Erin is wearing a Delfi dress, Christian Lacroix scarf, and Loeffler Randall sneakers.

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 67 MARKETPLACE

SHOPS • DINING • GOODS

Table 34 Featuring Chef Wes Kendrick’s contemporary American cuisine including fresh fish, wild game, duck and lamb, Certified Angus Beef and comfort food classics.

Conveniently located off the 215 and Warm Springs. Lunch and dinner Monday – Saturday 600 E Warm Springs Road 702-263-0034

Priscilla Fowler Fine Art Gallery & Studio Viewing the art at Priscilla Fowler's gallery & studio at 1025 South First St #155 (ArtSquare), Las Vegas (the Arts District) can be a family affair. Here, a young fan looks at Clarice Tara's graphite-and-ink- drawings during the recent Black & White Exhibit. Printmaking is featured during April and May. Open Tuesday - Sunday 12 - 6 except for First Friday (5 to 11pm) and Preview Thursdays (5 - 9pm). Call 719-371- 5640 for info and appointments. Please visit priscillafowler.com or search on FB for priscilla fowler fine art.

719-371-5640 priscillafowler.com

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▼ 69 MUSIC The APRIL 8 Welcome to the Underground Celebrate the spir- Guide it of music discovery with featured ▼ artists Rhye, Twin Shadow, Vagabon, ART visual similarity in and Sabriel. 7P, the subjects each $30–$35. Brooklyn THROUGH artist presents. Bowl at The Linq, APRIL 8 Free. Charleston brooklynbowl.com Carrying On Heights Arts Cen- The diversity ter, 800 S. Brush APRIL 9 program offers a St., artslasvegas. Planned Parenthood The Bruce collection of oil org Harper Big Join our local Planned Parenthood for their 9th paintings utilizing Band and Elisa Annual Cork and Forks Gala on April 18th at a classical style to THROUGH Fiorillo — Live The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. depict contempo- APRIL 29 in Living Color rary subject mat- The band per- This year’s event will recognize the Honorable Global Villagers ter, both figurative Lose yourself forms a set of Jan Jones Blackhurst and feature Dr. Willie and narrative in in this dynamic jazz and pop Parker as the keynote speaker. Tickets are theme. Free. Gal- installation of standards. 7P, available at bit.ly/CorksForks2018 lery at Summerlin photographic por- $20–$35. Myron’s Library, lvccld.org traits from streets Cabaret Jazz at 1.800.230.PLAN around the world. The Smith Center, pprm.org THROUGH Free. Gallery at thesmithcenter.com APRIL 10 Sahara West Li- Elegant brary, lvccld.org APRIL 13–14 Creatures Albert Strikingly chro- APRIL 1–MAY 12 Cummings matic and scintil- Plural with Special lating paintings Memory, passion, Guest John depict luxury fash- voice, excess, “Greyhound” ion displays as an race, gender, and Maxwell investigation into intersectionality Two guitar virtu- consumer culture. are all brought osos perform jazz Free. Gallery at into question as and blues originals Enterprise Library, viewers search for and standards. 7P, lvccld.org ways in which a $39–$59. Myron’s museum collection Cabaret Jazz at THROUGH can reflect their The Smith Center, APRIL 21 own multifaceted thesmithcenter.com Off the Page understanding Immerse yourself of what they APRIL 14 in an installation are. Free. Barrick Carmina that showcases Museum of Art at Burana — ceramic objects UNLV, unlv.edu Las Vegas relating to literary Philharmonic works and au- APRIL 1–MAY 12 Carl Orff’s thors. Free. Gallery Identity cantata will be Nannies & Housekeepers USA at Sahara West Tapestry performed along Library, Inviting visitors to with “Symphonic Nannies & Housekeepers USA is a “boutique” lvccld.org weave aspects of Metamorpho- household staffing agency. We go the distance themselves into sis on Themes to give families peace of mind knowing that THROUGH a participatory by Carl Maria every candidate has undergone a rigorous APRIL 25 artwork, artist von Weber,” an screening process which includes a personal, Celebrating Mary Corey March orchestral work face-to-face interview. Life Masters Exhibition gives viewers written by Ger- Our goal is to exceed the expectations of our This year’s juried new insights into man composer distinguished clients by providing fully vetted art exhibit includes both themselves Paul Hindemith in experienced candidates for full time, part time artists who were and the people America in 1943. and on-call services. chosen based on they see every 7:30P, $30–$109. the texture pres- day. Free. Barrick Reynolds Hall at 702-451-3000 ent in each of their Museum of Art at The Smith Center, nahusa.com works and the UNLV, unlv.edu thesmithcenter.com

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 69 The Guide

APRIL 17 Sin City Opera the best and most ▼ APRIL 27–MAY 6 will be accom- Las Vegas Youth updates the show popular songs in A Little Princess panied by an Orchestras so that it takes history. 2P, $10. THEATER & This Rainbow Com- storyline to create Features five place on the set Starbright Theatre COMEDY pany Youth Theatre a vocabulary of separate ensem- of the “Pagliacci at Sun City Sum- production shares movement intend- bles made up of Comedy Hour,” a merlin, scscai.com THROUGH the adventures of ed to resonate musicians aged 1950’s style televi- APRIL 15 Sara Crewe as she with 21st century 8–18. 6P $12–$45. sion show with a APRIL 27–28 The Father begins her journey audiences. Fri 7P; Reynolds Hall at “Mad Men”-esque Brubeck The play is a in Miss Minchin’s Sat 2P, $5–$8. The Smith Center, cast of characters. Brothers Quartet tragicomic look at Select Seminary for Nicholas J. Horn thesmithcenter.com Fri–Sat 7P; Sun 2P, The sons of leg- the world through Young Ladies. Fri– Theatre, 3200 E. $20. Winchester endary artist Dave the eyes of a man Sat 7p; Sun 2p, $6. Cheyenne Ave., APRIL 18 Cultural Center, Brubeck have experiencing Charleston Heights csn.edu/pac David Byrne 3130 McLeod been musicians dementia. Thu– Arts Center, 800 S. — American Drive, sincity in their own right Sat, 8P; Sun 2P, Brush St., artsl- ▼ Utopia Tour opera.com for over 50 years. $15–$25. Cock- asvegas.org The singer and Their quartet per- roach Theatre, DISCUSSIONS composer per- APRIL 21 forms jazz infused cockroachtheatre. APRIL 27–MAY 6 & READINGS forms Talking Tao: Drum with funk, blues, com Pippin Heads classics Heart and world music. Heir to the Frank- APRIL 7 and songs from You will be blown 7P, $39–$59. APRIL 12-14, ish throne, the Poetry 'N throughout his away by this Myron’s Cabaret 19-22 young prince Pip- Motion … solo career. 7:30P, performance in- Jazz at The Smith The Flick pin is in search of Yesterday & $59–$184. Reyn- cluding Japanese Center, thesmith While a movie the secret to true Today olds Hall at The music and cho- center.com theatre undergoes happiness and Salute the lan- Smith Center, the reography. 7:30P, changes, audience fulfillment. Fri–Sat guage and skill of smithcenter.com $26–$79. Reynolds APRIL 29 members discover 7:30P; Sun 2P, black master-po- Hall at The Smith Jazz Combos the inner need for $27.50–$33. Judy ets featuring APRIL 19 Center, thesmith CSN’s Vocal Jazz change in expe- Bayley Theatre at artists expressing Live & Local center.com students present a riences, perspec- UNLV, unlv.edu their gifts through Local artists from rhythmic produc- tives, and dreams poetry, scripture, all musical genres APRIL 21–22 tion of classic and of the three ▼ music, song, and will perform An Evening with contemporary se- diverse characters dance. 2P, free. original songs and Rhonda Vincent lections. 2P, $5–$8. who work there. DANCE West Las Vegas share their stories and The Rage Jay Morrison Re- Thu–Sat 7P; Sun Arts Center, 947 in an intimate set- A multi-instru- cital Hall at CSN, 2P, $10–$12. CSN’s APRIL 26–29 W. Lake Mead ting. Refreshments, mentalist, singer, csn.edu/pac Backstage Theatre, In Stride Blvd., artslas wine, and beer will and songwriter csn.edu/pac The season ender vegas.org be available for who specializes MAY 3 is a collection purchase. 7P, $10. on the mandolin CSN Spring APRIL 21 of works cho- APRIL 14 Charleston Heights will be backed Choral Concert Tom Foolery reographed by Sankofa: Chattel Arts Center, 800 S. by her bluegrass CSN’s College with LVIP the bachelor of Slavery Brush St., arts band. 7P, $39–$59. Singers, Cham- The Las Vegas fine arts majors Symbolizing the lasvegas.org Myron’s Cabaret ber Chorale, Jazz Improvisational in dance, per- people’s quest for Jazz at The Smith Singers, and Players make up formance, and knowledge and APRIL 20 Center, thesmith students of CSN’s the show on the choreography. their beliefs that Sundae + center.com Voice Classes spot based on the Thu–Sat 7:30P; the past must nev- Mr. Goessl present an evening audience’s sugges- Fri–Sun 2:30P, $18. er be forgotten, Seattle’s premier APRIL 26 of festive choral tions with hilarious Alta Ham Fine Arts this presentation vintage jazz duo Spotlight 3: music in this results. 7P, $10; $5 Dance Studio One asks what the features Kate Voss Windsongs — semester-ending kids, seniors, and at UNLV, unlv.edu future holds after and Jason Goessl, Las Vegas concert. 7P, $5–$8. military. Show Cre- surviving chattel who deliver a Philharmonic Nicholas J. Horn ators Studio, 4455 APRIL 27 slavery. 2P, free. show packed Orchestra mem- Theatre, 3200 E. W. Sunset Road, Verba Shadow West Las Vegas with wit, charm, bers perform small Cheyenne Ave., lvimprov.com Theatre Arts Center, 947 nostalgia, and ensemble pieces csn.edu/pac Hailing from W. Lake Mead serious chops! by Haydn, Beetho- APRIL 24–29 Ukraine, these Blvd., artslas 12P, free. Lloyd D. ven, Gabaye, and MAY 4-5 The Color performers bring vegas.org George Federal Brahms. 7:30P, Kurt Elling Purple worlds to life using Courthouse Jury $70. Troesh Studio A leading jazz The acclaimed only their bodies, APRIL 20 Assembly Room, Theater at The vocalist, Elling is novel is re- props, and light. National 333 Las Vegas Smith Center, the touring behind imagined as an 7:30P, $20–$40. Poetry Month Blvd. S., vintage smithcenter.com the release of his award-winning Artemus W. Ham Celebration jazzduo.com new album, “The Broadway musical. Concert Hall at This poetry APRIL 27 Questions.” 7P, Tue–Sun, 7:30P; UNLV, unlv.edu super-sampler APRIL 20–29 Music through $39–$65. Myron’s Sat–Sun, 2P, $36– features open-mic Pagliacci by the Decades Cabaret Jazz at $127. Reynolds APRIL 27–28 performances by Ruggero The Musicmakers’ The Smith Center, Hall at The Smith Spring Dance some of the best in Leoncavallo spring concert thesmithcenter. Center, thesmith Concert local talent. Ages A twist on a classic, features some of com center.com This production 16+. 7:30P, free.

70 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 DESERTCOMPANION.VEGAS Channel10

West Las Vegas ▼ Arts Center, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd., FUNDRAISERS artslasvegas.org APRIL 15 APRIL 27 28th Annual AIDS Story Slam Walk Las Vegas In the tradition of AFAN’s largest The Moth, par- fundraiser of the ticipants tell true year. Penn & Teller five-minute stories, will serve as the live. April’s theme is grand marshals. 7A, “Spring Break”. 8P, free. Town Square, $10. Center for Sci- afanlv.org ence and Wonder, 1651 E. Sunset Road, APRIL 15 #A111, lasvegas Wine, Women, storyslam.com & Shoes This fundraiser sup- ▼ ports programs for homeless, abused, FAMILY & and neglected Civilizations FESTIVALS children and youth in foster care. It will Tuesdays at 8 p.m., premiering April 17 APRIL 8 include a wine tast- Peppa Pig’s ing, food, shopping, Surprise! auctions, and a The kids will love “Best in Shoe” con- this live musical, test. 1P, $95–$150. based on the popu- Green Valley Ranch lar British animated Resort & Spa, stju- series, featuring desranch.org life-size puppets and costumed APRIL 27 characters. 12P and Dress for 4P, $25.50–$62.50. Success Reynolds Hall at Luncheon and The Smith Center, Fashion Show thesmithcenter.com A three-course lunch, silent auction, APRIL 14 and after party raise The Las Vegas funds to provide Nature: Sex, Lies #VegasStrong: Valley Rose professional attire, and Butterflies The Road Ahead Society’s support, and career Annual Show development tools Wednesday, April 4 at 8 p.m. Friday, April 6 at 8 p.m. Enjoy hundreds of for women. 12P, competing roses on $20–$2,000. Four display, grown by Seasons Hotel, your neighbors, and dressforsuccess judged earlier that southernnevada.org day for their beauty, great smells, and APRIL 28 presentation. 1–4P, Celebrando free. West Charles- Hispanic Festival ton Public Library, This event offers lvccld.org entertainment, food, outreach programs, APRIL 22 guest speakers and Celebrate Israel community organi- Festival zations to unite, in- This Jewish festival spire, and celebrate will include per- Hispanic culture Unforgotten formances, kids’ and heritage. 2–8P, on Masterpiece NOVA Wonders activities, kosher free. Sammy Davis Sundays at 9 p.m., Wednesdays at 9 p.m., Israeli food, arts and Jr. Festival Plaza in premiering April 8 premiering April 25 crafts, and shop- Lorenzi Park, 720 ping.1–6P, free. The Twin Lakes Drive, Venetian-Palazzo celebrandofestival. Ballroom, israeliamer- com VegasPBS.org | 3050 E Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89121 | 702.799.1010 ican.org

APRIL 2018 . DESERT COMPANION | 71 72 END NOTE REJECTED CANNABIS PRODUCTS By Andrew Kiraly and Scott Dickensheets

“Family High” Pure Indica Fireplace Logs

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Limburger CheeseWheel With A Joint Hidden in the Middle

Slobbertime Cheeba Chaw Chewin’ Slaw

Raid MAXTotal Kill Roach Fogger now with Rainbow Snazzleberry Dreamtime THC Vapor

72 | DESERT COMPANION . APRIL 2018 On February 20, Desert Companion hosted its annual Best Of the City issue party at Jaguar Land Rover Las Vegas. Partygoers enjoyed cocktails provided by ReBar, including the Nevada Old Fashioned - a twist on the classic cocktail. The twist? A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the drink at ReBar’s popular downtown location benefits Nevada Public Radio. Thanks to everyone who attended!

SEPTEMBER 2017 . DESERT COMPANION | 73 WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER, WE CAN DO GREAT THINGS.

Many hands can make big things happen. Like preventing hunger. MGM Resorts played a key role in founding Three Square, a central food bank in Southern Nevada. Its contributions help feed more than 137,000 individuals each month. That’s more than 1.6 million pounds of food per year. Over 1,300 community nonproﬁ ts, faith-based organizations, schools, businesses and government agencies have come together to feed the community.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION • COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT • ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

74 | DESERT COMPANION . SEPTEMBER 2017