Issuu

Letters............................ 3 Opinion/Streetalk............ 5 Sheila.Leslie.................... 6 Brendan.Trainor.............. 7 News.............................. 8 Green............................ 11 Feature......................... 13 Arts&Culture................ 16 Art.of.the.State............. 19

Foodfinds..................... 20 Film.............................. 22 Musicbeat.................... 23 Nightclubs/Casinos....... 24 This.Week.....................27 Advice.Goddess........... 28 Free.Will.Astrology....... 30 15.Minutes..................... 31 Bruce.Van.Dyke............ 31

Hack Job See News, page 10.

As Reno’s foReclosuRe cRises stAbilize, nobody knows whAt the stReet looks like ARound the coRneR

Get your motor runnin' See Green, page 11.

Gridiron GalS

See arts&Culture, page 16.

Johnny is rotten See Film, page 22.

RENo’s NEws & ENtERtaiNmENt wEEkly

VolumE

20,

issuE

aPRil

24-30,

2014

Recycle this paper 2

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april 24, 2014

Send letters to renoletters@newsreview.com

Old-school

Greed isn’t good?

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review. Last week, I got to go down to Silicon Valley on a field trip with my Participatory Journalism class. We visited various journalism and tech-related outfits, including the Center for Investigative Reporting, the Stanford University d.School, Google and Ideo. I felt a little ambivalent to be honest. While almost all my fellow students were picturing themselves working for these places, I don’t ever see myself doing that sort of work or dragging myself to work at those places. OK, maybe I could picture myself at the Center for Investigative Reporting, a little bit, if I could freelance or telecommute. And maybe if I knew then what I know now, I might have made my way to Stanford, but ... you know, probably not. I think my attitude toward monolithic corporate or educational entities must go back to the ’70s, growing up listening to punk rock music and living a punk rock lifestyle. The whole DIY philosophy was anticorporate. While I had no musical talent, I adopted the ideals of doing things for myself. For example, I worked on my own cars, most of the “art” that is around my house I did myself. Even today, when I want to do something that requires a skill I don’t have, when I can, I learn it. This whole local food, buy local, support local stuff movement seems to me as though it sprang from punk rock, and it seems as necessary in the 21st century as it was back in the mid-20th. Just because something is bigger does not make it better. But I do find some of the concepts that I took away intriguing, and I’ll figure out how to bring them into my own life. For example, that idea of “design thinking”—bringing diverse skill sets and philosophies together to come up with new ways to solve problems—that I saw at both the d.School and Ideo is something that I’ll figure out how to take advantage of. I’m sure it won’t be long before you see an example here on these pages.

Re “This land is our land” (Editorial, April 17): This wasn’t an ongoing tax based on grazing rights but rather an “invented” environmental fee regarding tortoises. It appears the Bureau of Land Managment is going to (smartly) back away from this one. Bundy was in the right. I’d bet the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t have any empirical evidence that cattle grazing really effects the tortoise population, but it’s a great excuse. As Bundy stated, years ago, there were lots of tortoises and lots of grazing, including sheep, which are rougher on the foliage than cattle. Also, as Bundy asked, “The feds have irradiated large parts of Nevada, and now they are worried about some tortoises?” Our government and their corporate masters need to tread lightly or there could be violence, and that would be bad. Unfortunately, the big-headed Wall Streeters probably won’t get it until a few of them are swinging from light poles. (I’m not proposing anything.) Yup, our world is going south in a handbasket, and it’s all due to greed. I hope we live long enough to see a better day. Greed will never go away— it’s human nature—but hopefully they’ll stop teaching it in our schools as being a positive attribute. John Bogle Reno

—D. Brian Burghart

b ri an b @ n e w sre v i ew.com

OPINION

NEWS

GREEN

For the pets A donation-matching mission in full swing to benefit pets that belong to the homeless. A donation-matching challenge, issued by the WHC Foundation of Reno to Pets of the Homeless of Carson City (POTH), will help pets that belong to the homeless in Northern Nevada. Until September, the Foundation will match donations up to $10,000. The money will be used to provide pet food to area food banks, emergency veterinary care for pets that belong to the Northern Nevada homeless population, and sponsorship of at least two wellness clinics during the year in downtown Reno. Nationally, since 2008, POTH has treated over

Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages people to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.

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ARTS&CULTURE

10,000 pets of the homeless with veterinary care and POTH’s 475 member collection sites have reported over 265 tons of pet food has been taken to food banks in their respective communities. To donate or learn more, go to www. petsofthehomeless.org Genevieve Frederick Carson City

Fear of an inorganic future Re “The Organic Food Lie” (Feature story, Feb. 13): The article demonstrates modern biochemical accomplishments that will shape the world scientifically, agriculturally, medically and socially. The whole world is currently in a biological revolution, which was triggered by the agricultural revolution and the need to supply countless countries with the food necessary to support their growing populations. The reason people continue to die for lack of nutrition is due to the people who are standing in the way of science and what we can accomplish with it. (This includes people who are against transgenic crops and modern business policies that squeeze every penny from customers, as well as unsustainable population growth.) There is no evidence that transgenic food has ever caused a human death. Transgenic crops cannot alter human genomes simply by eating them. The proteins and carbohydrates of transgenic plants are broken apart into carbon and nitrogen just like any other food a human eats. Of course enhancing a gene is going to cause strains on the metabolic regulation of the plant, but the shift will not result in something deadly or even poisonous, it will simply focus the energy the plant uses on growing its fruits instead of growing leaves. Even if off-gene effects resulted from the transformation, they would quickly be recognized and terminated in the thorough testing all products go through. The only threat transgenic crops pose to the world is the potential for them to grow out of control and displace strains growing in the wild. Luckily, science controls this potential problem by disabling the plants from reproducing, which is why

Editor/Publisher D. Brian Burghart News Editor Dennis Myers Arts Editor Brad Bynum Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Staff writer Sage Leehey Contributors Amy Alkon, Woody Barlettani, Laura Davis, Bob Grimm, Ashley Hennefer, Sheila Leslie, Dave Preston, Jessica Santina, Todd South, Brendan Trainor, Bruce Van Dyke, Allison Young

ART OF THE STATE

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Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Design Serene Lusano, Marianne Mancina, Skyler Smith Advertising Consultants Gina Odegard, Bev Savage Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office Manager/Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker

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farmers have to buy seeds from companies like Monsanto every year. Haley Toups Carson City

We need erosion abatement Re “Big brother’s warm, friendly hand” (Let Freedom Ring, April 10): All of these stupid federal government reactions, such as the National Defense Authorization Act, are knee-jerk reactions by government to perceived catastrophes that the federal idiots feel merit unconstitutional acts at the federal level. If these federal idiots would react in a civil, descent and constitutional manner; the terrorists would not gain the erosion of the principles upon which this nation was founded, nor would we lose the efficacy of those principles. James M. Young Reno

Try Snopes Re “On second thought” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, April 10): Since Bruce Van Dyke has already absorbed a dose of reality on this, he might also take 10 minutes to fact check the reality of his despised Koch Brothers’ actual involvement with XL. Hint: It’s also mostly, if not all, more mythology. Dare not to be just another knee jerk! I enjoy Van Dyke’s bird reports from Ranch Secluso on the NVBIRDS forum. Brian Adams Reno

Two degrees of devastation

NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

THIS WEEK

Jan Freed Los Angeles, Calif.

Correction

Re “On second thought” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, April 10): There are many good reasons to say “no” to Keystone, and to say “yes” to jobs. It will not create the jobs claimed for it, nor will it reduce prices at the pump. In fact, prices may go up as domestic oil finds easier ways overseas. It threatens drinking

Distribution Manager Valerie Mets Distribution Drivers Trevor Bexon, Sandra Chhina, Ron Large, Joe Medeiros, Ron Neill, Andy Odegard, Jesse Pike, Martin Troye, Warren Tucker, Matthew Veach, Gary White, Joseph White General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Ronsenquist

water supplies. But most importantly, the International Energy Agency estimates that Keystone could harvest three times the carbon that would take us over 2 degrees C, the absolute limit for a catastrophe we might survive, if we’re lucky. And other carbon projects are in the wings, taking us up to plus-6 deg. C, with “massive climate change and irreparable damage” How reckless can we be? We are warned of this climate abyss by our most trusted messengers, such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, every scientific academy, the very conservative World Bank, fact-checked by National Geographic, Scientific American. We are told of current disastrous health effects by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association. We cannot rely on state department assessments, if made by employees of the carbon industries. And Keystone could eventually strip forests the size of Florida, forests that might have absorbed enormous quantities of CO2 before they were removed as “overburden.” Would Keystone “replace” those forests? They’ve said they would make good any future damage. Laughable. Many of us know the bitter taste of the weird weather out there, with just current warming of .8 deg C. Shall we roll the dice for our kids and grand kids, saying “let it ride!” beyond 2 degrees and more? More, and we might invite abrupt, irreversible changes. No, taking your kids to soccer practice or Disney World does not make up for that. With its high risks and low return, Keystone XL is not a smart gamble.

Re: “What drones may come” (Feature, April 17): We incorrectly stated that documentary director John Heminway used Drone America vehicles during the production of his National Geographic film Battle for the Elephants. We apologize for the error.

Business Nicole Jackson, Tami Sandoval Systems Manager Jonathan Schultz Systems Support Specialist Joe Kakacek Web Developer/Support Specialist John Bisignano 708 North Center Street Reno, NV 89501 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds & Talking Personals to N&R Classifieds, Reno Edition, 1015 20th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 or email classifieds@ newsreview.com

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Web site www.newsreview.com Printed by Paradise Post The RN&R is printed using recycled newsprint whenever available. Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the RN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. The RN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form.

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APRIL 24, 2014

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by Dennis Myers

ThiS ModeRn WoRLd

by tom tomorrow

What did you think of Bundy and the BLM? Asked at Michael’s Deli, 628 S. Virginia St. Jim Elwood Retiree

That’s federal land. They’re not happy about it. He owes them a million dollars over 20 years, so they very well might have a point. That’s all I know.

Laura Moan Graphic designer

I think it’s pretty rotten of the government to push somebody off their own land.

Vincent Edward Talancon Security officer

Leaderless Nevada Imagine a corporate executive in Chicago or Seattle sitting in his office working on where to locate the company’s new facility. On his desks are the files on a half-dozen states, including Nevada. He begins his day reading the New York Times, in which there is a story about a group of people—some of them with guns—gathering in Nevada to support a rancher who doesn’t want to pay his bills. Then he turns to the Wall Street Journal, where he learns that Nevada’s governor and one of its U.S. senators are supporting the rancher and his followers. But that wasn’t the worst part of Brian Sandoval and Dean Heller’s behavior in this episode. They deftly put themselves on Bundy’s side without actually endorsing his lawbreaking, signaling to the GOP’s fringe their support for a reckless extremist while staying inside the lines. Sandoval attacked the BLM for creating free speech areas where members of the public could be heard by reporters without wandering into what easily could be the line of activist fire, a step frequently taken to protect the public in crisis situations from campus disorders to forest fires. Heller—plus GOP attorney general candidate Adam Laxalt—attacked Bureau of Land Management officials for going in armed when they confiscated the scofflaw’s cattle. Remember that rancher Cliven Bundy’s disciples had been posting all kinds of inflammatory stuff online about Ruby Ridge and Waco, that some of them were armed, and that in the course of this loony 20-year old movement, BLM and Forest Services offices have been bombed three times in Nevada. Police organizations, keep this in mind when Laxalt comes around seeking endorsements. Keep in mind, too, that Heller as senator is supposed to help pass laws, Sandoval as governor is supposed to OPINION

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ARTS&CULTURE

Totally thought that the BLM was being totally out of control in the fact that they were escalating the situation way more. Actually made me fear that a second American revolution was going to happen. Terrible down there.

implement laws, and Laxalt as attorney general would sometimes be expected to enforce laws, yet all of them were supporting a rancher who considers abiding by the law to be optional, who picks and chooses which laws he obeys. And Sandoval, a former federal judge, sided with those ignoring a federal judge’s orders. Pandering won out over law. Again, police groups take note. But the conduct of these figures was not the worst part of the episode. That fell to the Democrats. While Republicans were lining up behind Bundy’s lawbreaking, Democrats said nothing at all. The extreme rhetoric of Bundy’s supporters—the three local Republicans included—dominated news coverage in the early days of the dispute. This was a time when public opinion was being formed, and law enforcement needed support. Moreover, with Heller, Laxalt, Sandoval and other Republicans undercutting law enforcement at a time when Bundy supporters were urging deputies (who were in the sights of hunting rifles) not to do their jobs, it became even more important for the Democrats to stand up. It was exactly the time for leadership. But few familiar figures spoke for law enforcement. Where was U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, who waited until after the matter was settled to comment? U.S. House members Dina Titus and Steven Horsford waited until late in the game. Democratic state legislators, Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick, Senate leader Mo Denis were silent. Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto was reportedly in negotiations to try to calm the situation but never spoke publicly. Former Nevada Gov. Richard Bryan was one of the few Democrats to speak out for law and sanity. Otherwise, in a time that cried out for leadership, Nevada Democrats failed us. Again. Ω |

ART OF THE STATE

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David Schaper Certified public accountant

I’m actually for the government on this one. It drove me nuts that they released the cattle to him after spending all that money when it seems to me they should have sold it to pay his debts.

Shelly O’Neill Lawyer

I feel for people who have lived in the state and run their animals, and the changing ways of society. Sometimes people just get left behind. I don’t know enough about the situation ... but I think it’s very sad.

THIS WEEK

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APRIL 24, 2014

RN&R

We could try a taxi meter Nothing stirs up a debate faster than the issue of salaries and benefits of elected officials. Most people think representatives are paid far too much. And most people have no idea what those salaries, benefits and perks actually are. State legislators are certainly on by the low-end of the scale. Per the state Sheila Leslie constitution, they’re paid a salary of $7,800 for the first 60 days of a 120-day legislative session. After that, they work for free, although the per diem during the legislative session is more than the salary. Over the years, changing the constitution to pay legislators for the full 120 days of the session has been placed on the ballot several times, but voters don’t hesitate in voting it down. The concept of offering health benefits never even comes up. Legislators with “real” jobs, sometimes in the public sector, must take a leave of absence for those four months and scramble to figure out a way to cover their health insurance. They also need to find an employer

6 | RN&R |

APRIL 24, 2014

that will allow the four-month leave, along with numerous other days when a legislator must attend meetings during the interim between legislatures. Other legislators who work in the private sector, most often in a law firm, have managed this problem by acquiring a more forgiving employment situation, sometimes referred to among their colleagues as a “fake” job. They show up a few days a week, do a little work, and nonetheless collect their full salary and benefits, sometimes even during the legislative session. Ever wonder about those legislators constantly tweeting about their legislative travel, meetings and field trips during the normal work day? The private sector often writes off these activities as part of the cost of doing business. After all, having a state senator in the law firm helps bring in business, especially when that person can influence legislation later to benefit a client. Local officials are much better paid, to the point that some people

give up their old jobs once they’re elected and dedicate themselves full time to their new position. Considering a Washoe county commissioner earns $58,672.55 (since 2010) and enjoys full health benefits and retirement, it’s not unreasonable for the voters to expect full time devotion. A recent dispute arose at Reno City Hall when the Reno GazetteJournal reported that council members have been receiving automatic pay increases each year since 2004, despite the recession when employees’ pay was being cut and jobs eliminated. Council members now receive a base salary of $67,972 along with a pension contribution of $17,503, health benefits worth about $12,000 and other perks of the office, bringing the total compensation package to $111,656. Some council members, embarrassed by the automatic increases during tough economic times, have chosen to give back some of the money but the council as a whole has refused to establish a permanent

policy to fix the problem of the COLAs which have increased salaries by almost 25 percent over the last ten years. Instead the majority of the Council prefers a “voluntary give-back” whereby council members decide for themselves how much salary to keep. Councilmember Jenny Brekhus has declined to participate in the ‘give back whatever you want’ competition, and she pushed the council to eliminate the automatic pay increases during budget planning. The council refused and instead proceeded with their individual decisions to return anywhere from $1,950 to $10,800 in salary and benefits. As a protest to the ridiculous default policy of voluntary givebacks, Brekhus accepts the full salary and benefits package. Following her lead, the new mayor and council members should revisit the issue and establish a rational policy that treats everyone equally. It may be a difficult decision to make, but isn’t that what we pay them to do? Ω

The battle of Bunkerville The Battle of Bunkerville is over, and thankfully no shots were actually fired. The Bureau of Land Management’s overly militarized attempt to round up Clark County rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle over grazing fees and the endangered desert tortoise ended after hundreds of supporters, by Brendan including self-proclaimed armed Trainor “militia,” refused to be herded into a free speech corral while BLM “Rangers” with assault rifles threatened to turn the demonstration into a replay of the bloody Maidan Square uprisings in Kiev. Can someone tell the president to use his pen and his phone to put an end to these ridiculously unconstitutional free speech zones? After Gov. Brian Sandoval helped broker a truce and the cattle were returned bruised but alive to Bundy, Sen. Harry Reid put on the same bitter beer face he wears while denouncing the Koch Brothers and warned the battle isn’t over. He is

right, but Sandoval may take the next round in the 2016 Senate Race as the popular governor showed he can face down the Senate majority leader. Reid’s DNA is all over this crime scene as the newly installed 35-yearold BLM director Neil Kornze, who worked for years on Reid’s staff, immediately paid the Senator back by defending the fiasco. News reports surfaced that the real reason for wanting to force Southern Nevada’s last cattle rancher off the land his family has worked for a century was not grazing fees or tortoises but a sweetheart deal involving Reid’s son Rory and Chinese solar energy developers who covet Bundy’s land. Nevada is committed to 25 percent renewable energy by 2025, and Reid has a history of doing well for his family by claiming to do good for Nevada. But solar energy is not necessarily any better for tortoises than cattle. Solar development requires

new roads, new power lines, and vast acreage of pristine desert to build. Green plans to turn the Mojave Desert into a solar farm have been blocked by other greens who do not want nature disturbed for any reason, no matter how noble. Despite rancher Bundy’s belief in local county government, the Clark County Commission did not distinguish itself in the dispute, with Commissioner Tom Collins threatening violence against “inbred” Utah supporters of Bundy. Nevada’s largest county seems to be mostly interested in using the public land transfer movement as a way to cut through the admittedly onerous red tape involved in swapping out federal lands for development. Rural America is being depopulated by a political elite that has never put any sweat equity into anything more substantial than the next career move. Ranchers like Cliven Bundy who work their land and raise large families to do

the same for generations appear as anachronistic to our urban mandarins as Native Americans who opposed the transcontinental railroad did to the robber barons. A report to the Washoe County Commission this month showed that the transfer of federal lands to the state will bring new revenue to the state with the majority going to a trust for education. Another large contingent will go to protecting the Nevada Sage Grouse, whose possible inclusion on the endangered species list could mirror the desert tortoise as a backdoor way for the feds to retain control over the lands. Commissioner Kitty Jung seemed to be impressed and ordered staff to write a history of the public land disputes. Here’s hoping that the report will give justice to the Cliff Gardners, the Dann Sisters, the Wayne Hagues and now Cliven Bundy whose independent spirits represent the best of Nevada’s love of freedom. Ω

For more coverage of the conspiracy theory regarding Rory Reid, see http://tinyurl.com/ kytcbaf.

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APRIL 24, 2014

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Sparks cartoonist mourns Archie Brian Crane, whose comic strip “Pickles” appears in more than 700 newspapers, thinks the killing of Archie Andrews is crazy. On April 8, Archie Comics announced that the famous comic book character after whom the corporation is named will be killed off while saving a friend. Crane said he was surprised to hear the news and could only guess it had something to do with trying to prop up the comic. At a book signing in South Reno, Crane said, “It sounds like a desperate grab for attention to me, you know. Like jumping the shark, where BRIAN CRANE you can’t think of anything else—‘Well, let’s kill the hero and see what happens.’ ... I just kind of wonder, what were they thinking?” Jumping the shark is a trope referencing the point when a television show, advertising promotion or other endeavor begins losing public favor and tries something extreme to regain ground. It is named for a fifth season Happy Days episode in which “Fonzie” is shown in his leather jacket on water skis jumping over a shark. Archie’s death will take place in one comic book, Life with Archie, which has recently been using two story lines on the character’s later life, one in which he is married to Betty, the other to Veronica. He will die in both story lines.

Local progress on dispensaries Within Washoe County, governments are moving forward on medical dispensaries for marijuana, with Reno bringing up the rear. County commissioners approved rules on where medical marijuana facilities will be permitted in county jurisdiction. In Sparks, language on zoning for dispensaries went to the city planning commission and the Sparks City Council will take up ordinances and zoning at its April 28 meeting. The Reno City Council directed city staffers to prepare language for ordinances.

Dear Harry Last week Josh Romney snapped a photo of his father—former presidential candidate Mitt—standing in line at a post office waiting to drop his tax filing in the mail. Then the younger Romney posted it to Twitter along with this message: “Hey @SenatorReid, here’s a shot of @MittRomney paying taxes. Does it every year. It’s how you get your paycheck.” During the 2012 presidential campaign, U.S. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada claimed—without any proof—that Mitt Romney had failed to pay “any taxes for 10 years” (“Harry Reid’s hit on Romney,” RN&R, Sept. 6, 2012). Previous and subsequent disclosures by Romney indicated that Reid’s claim was false. In the photo, the former candidate is seen ROMNEY IN LINE from the back, wearing a dark blue polo shirt with stripes. The tweet didn’t identify the post office, but the San Diego Union Tribune identified it as a La Jolla post office.

—Dennis Myers

8 | RN&R |

APRIL 24, 2014

While the hacked website was being redesigned, an apology was posted.

They’re back State agency website taken down by hackers The Nevada State Library and Archives website came back online last week, by several weeks after it was hacked Dennis and shut down. Myers The hackers installed their own material on the site, which was quickly detected by the enterprise IT services arm of the Nevada Department of Administration, which informed Library and Archives officials. The site was taken off line and, after some discussion, it was decided to fully redesign what was a relatively aged website. No public announcement of the hacking was made. When the RN&R asked Library and Archives administrator Daphne DeLeon, she confirmed it.

“Our website wasn’t available for two months.” Daphne DeLeon Nevada State Library and Archives “That’s correct,” she said. “It was hacked. Enterprise informed us right away, as soon as they detected the hack. … “They brought [the website] down. My staff looked at the site and found there material that was not put up by us. … We went ahead and made the decision to use staff resources to redesign it. Our website wasn’t available for two months.”

During those months, some regular users of the website said they were able to continue using it through Google caches. But for inquiries from less computer-savvy customers, library staffers fell back on pre-computer age methods of serving them. “We had to send material out a different way and spent more time doing that,” DeLeon said. She said that added to the cost of the hacking, but that it was not generally an expensive episode. The redesign had already been talked about before the hacking, she said. It was accelerated, but the money would have been expended at some point. She was not able to say when the redesign would have happened if the hacking had not occurred. “That’s difficult to surmise,” she said. “We have been in the planning stages. We are the last division in the Department of Administration to migrate.” While the site was shut down, an apology was posted: “The Nevada State Library and Archives website is down. Please contact the agency directly at (775) 684-3313 for assistance. We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. We are working to make the Nevada State Library and Archives website available as soon as possible.”

The site address has been changed from http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/ to www.nsla.nv.gov, likely a reflection of the fact that the state's Cultural Affairs Department was split in two in the latest state government reorganization, with some functions attached to Tourism and Library and Archives attached to Administration. The now defunct Cultural Affairs was created by a previous reorganization. Consolidating the functions was described as saving money in the reorganization that created Cultural Affairs. Splitting them up was described as saving money in the latest reorganization. The new design is more colorful than the relatively staid previous design. DeLeon said the changes on the site mostly make things easier rather than providing new capabilities. “They were dictated by how the website organically grew before,” she said. More and more things were regularly tacked onto the older site, with routes created that now have been shortened. “Not necessarily,” she said when asked if the website can now do things it couldn't do before. “It is better in terms of what they couldn’t get access to. We tried to make things a little easier to find, within two or three clicks. … In terms of new information, I don’t think we put up anything new.”

This is the home page of the new website of the Nevada State Library and Archives.

When the website went back online, administrator of the State Archives and Records Management program Jeff Kintop sent email messages out to regular aficionados of the site: “The myths of the month [written by Kintop’s predecessor, Guy Louis Rocha], always a popular resource, are up in a new format. There are quick links to key projects and programs on the front page. There is a Nevada Literary Map link off the resources on the front page. And NSLA has a YouTube channel and a Nevada Reads Facebook page.”

It’s not known what, if anything, is being done to track the hackers.

“ The myths of the month, always a popular resource, are up in a new format.” Jeff Kintop nevada state Archives Enterprise IT information officer David Gustafson could not be reached for comment. Ω

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by Georgia Fisher As Reno’s foreclosure crises stabilize, nobody knows what the street looks like around the corner

ou’d think foreclosure auctions would be more dramatic. After all, you’ve got anguished families in the mix, investors with startling amounts of hard cash, and auctioneers rattling away on the steps of the Washoe County Courthouse. But for all their emotional potential, the events are pretty sedate, at least on the surface. Trustees and even homeowners have until the very last minute to postpone a sale, so buyers tend to stand around a lot, leaning against stairwells and messing with their phones until each round of bidding starts. Many are middle-aged men in sneakers, ball caps and dad shorts. And plenty are savvy investors who seem far too relaxed for people with $100,000-plus cashier’s checks in their pockets, buying properties they’ve yet to even tour. The bidding process is understated, too—so much so OPINION

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that onlookers probably shouldn’t scratch their heads unless they want new digs. “Sometimes [investors] just bid with their eyes, practically,” says Auction.com employee Dalene Vandermyden. “It’s funny.” Her company isn’t the only one outside the Washoe County Courthouse each week. Auctions may draw crowds. Nothing is guaranteed: not turnout, nor a clear title, nor the promise there won’t be a gaping hole in your new floor. “You hope you get a good deal,” says Guy Archer, an affable Reno native who bought a foreclosed house—a place off McCarran Boulevard he’d researched at length—on April 11. It was his first. These days, a buyer like him might save 20 percent or so, he figures, but “you’re not going to skin anybody.”

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There’s no doubt our market is on the upswing. In in the last year, it’s shown as much as 30 percent appreciation in areas such as South Meadows/Double Diamond, and about a 25 percent bump on average. Interest rates have been historically low, too. And although Nevada still has the third-highest foreclosure rate in the country, according to RealtyTrac, the nation’s go to real-estate site, the number of “preforeclosed” and bank-owned homes in Reno has dipped considerably since March of last year — by around 85 percent and 9 percent, respectively. In fact, the biggest problem for first-time buyers may just be the fact that houses in their price range are being snapped up so fast that they’re hard to find. But some say the whole market—or the way it looks, anyway—is a bit manipulated. My own |

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agent, longtime real-estate agent Clay Alder, prefers to use the word “influenced.” In a nutshell, Alder figures as many as 7,000 to 12,000 or more Reno-area homes that could be for sale right now aren’t, for various legal reasons. And in the unlikely but conceivable event they should all materialize at once, we’ll be in trouble. “Let’s say there are 7,000 [such] homes out there,” he explains, noting that he’s not trying to sound alarmist. “If those homes were all to come on the market tomorrow, it would change the supply-and-demand model, and subsequently, I believe our market would drop in value.” He’s referring to shadow inventory, which is a somber but not exactly urgent concern. Its scope can include seriously delinquent properties, those in some stage of foreclosure, and houses that are already bank-owned but not yet up for sale. And even right now, with the market beginning to stabilize, “the ingredients are there,” Alder says, for a fallout to happen. It’s probably not imminent, seeing as banks wouldn’t want to destroy the market for themselves, but it’s technically possible. You may have heard of “zombie foreclosures,” too; they’re part of the same pie, and amount to foreclosures left unfinished by banks, and homeowners who move away without realizing said banks have halted or abandoned the paperwork, for whatever reason. Unbeknownst to them, these families actually still own their houses—and are on the hook for accumulating bills and upkeep, too. In fact, the whole undead-house issue is big enough nationally that a federal agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has begun looking into it. According to RealtyTrac, more than one-fifth of all active foreclosures in the United States are zombies, so to speak, and they happen to be on the rise in Nevada. “It’s a tough, tough stat to track down,” says real estate agent Cory Edge. At any rate, “these unoccupied homes that are in some stage of foreclosure … have become a larger story lately, given the lack of [overall] inventory.” And that’s its own can of worms. As for shadow inventory, the issue goes back to 2011, for our purposes, when well-known Nevada Assembly Bill 284 (A.B. 284) slowed the paperwork process for banks that would have otherwise been issuing widespread notices of default. (NODs, as they’re often called, serve as official notice that a borrower is behind on his or

paGe 14 MISCELLANY

APRIL 24, 2014

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continued from page 13 her payments. They also outline the impending foreclosure process.) Basically, the legislation required that lenders prove their right to foreclose on each home. Seems reasonable enough, right? Maybe, but as soon as the bill took effect, thousands of homes were on their way to a sort of red-tape limbo. Some owners simply stopped making house payments, opting to ride out the storm as long as they could. Others are still riding. Still others didn’t even know they were barreling towards foreclosure, and might not to this day, thanks to slowness on the banks’ part. Cue the zombie stuff. Before long, another bill, A.B. 300, loosened the banks’ restrictions, but not entirely. Then Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 321, which supporters called a homeowners’ bill of rights. It provides further protection for those whose mortgages are underwater, requiring, among other things, that lenders not start to foreclose on a home while simultaneously working toward a short sale with the owner. Forbidden or not, though, “You still see that happening sometimes,” says Mike Harding, another real-estate agent in town. Alder often returns to talk of the ousted homeowners and occupants—families who’ve been stressed and heartbroken in the midst of a

Public notices, including foreclosure and auction announcements, are examined at the Washoe County Courthouse.

Laws and LuLLs Before A.B. 284, Washoe County averaged more than 500 defaults a month, says Steve Schiller, president of Ticor Title’s Northern Nevada branch. As soon as the bill became effective, that number dropped to 13. “I think we can all agree that not all those people just started massively making their payments,” says Schiller, who combed county

and MLS records last year and came up with a high-end estimate of around 12,000 homes in shadow inventory. “These were still people who should have been going through the foreclosure process but weren’t, because the lenders either weren’t comfortable or couldn’t comply with the new statute.” S.B. 321 “had a pretty dramatic impact on the foreclosure market,” too, he adds, albeit not as dramatic as in 2011. “We’re not working our way through all those defaulted loans that are out there still,” Schiller says. “We still have some potential for shadow inventory.” Banks ought to have some insights too, of course. Wells Fargo, Capital Pacific Bank and Bank of America—this last one of the biggest guns in the business—are among the financial institutions that own homes here in Washoe County. None of their spokespeople returned calls for this story, but Tom Traficanti, the executive vice president and chief credit officer at Heritage Bank, was happy to talk. Granted, Heritage isn’t a big mortgage lender, and only has one house currently in the foreclosure process. Go figure. “We’ve probably foreclosed on less than 10 homes in the last five years,” Traficanti cautions. But Heritage handles construction and home equity loans, as he points out, and those are obviously wrapped up in the same market. “We don’t want that information to be potentially distorted,” he says, “by a large inventory of un-foreclosed homes. There are definitely still questions out there.” Try this one: How many local mortgages are really in limbo? “How many are there?” repeats Mark Ashworth, president of the Nevada Association of Realtors’ Reno chapter. “Well, we don’t know. That number depends on who we talk to.” One of the chapter’s members apparently found data for area houses without power, for one, and reported that there were 6,000 of them. But as NV Energy spokesperson Faye Andersen asks, not unkindly, “How do we even know they exist, if they’re not getting electricity?” Driving around, looking for dead landscaping and talking to neighbors is another way to find individual abandoned properties—or so says a regular auction attendee who’d rather not give his name, for fear of a clash with people who once owned the homes he’s buying. Vacancies aren’t the only problem, though. “There are a lot of folks who are just in a stalemate with lots of lenders,” Traficanti says, citing daily market reports. “It’s probably hundreds of people, if not thousands, who are simply not paying their loans, and the banks are not doing anything about it. … I look at the

numbers, and I think, ‘How can this be?’” It’s a tough thing to quantify, though, because even a public notice of default doesn’t mean a homeowner is getting the boot. “Not everybody who’s missed payments gets a notice of default,” as Harding explains, “and not everybody who gets a notice of default even ends up going into foreclosure, or having to do a short sale. Even a notice of sale [before an auction] is not a definite track for ending up as bank sale.” Plus, the occupant may even have enough equity to sell the place outright, without losing money on the deal. “They might say, ‘Wow, we can’t afford this any longer; we have to sell the house,” Harding adds. “But they might have enough to pay off their loan.”

CaLmer waters Erica and Nathan James, who are 29 and 34, respectively, sold a place last May—one Erica had bought herself before the couple got married. The Jameses then purchased land in Curti Ranch and began building a new house, which they finished last October. Without getting into much detail, Nathan estimates its value is mid-range. October was half a year ago, of course, but “we thought it was fair,” he says, “as far as what we paid for the house … we were in the market, and the market came up quite a bit.” Nathan works in the civil-engineering industry, so when the housing market ebbs and flows, so does his bread and butter. “It doesn’t just affect the bottom-line of my house value,” he’ll tell you. That said, “I don’t want my equity to increase so substantially that the market crashes again.” As for shadow-inventory, well, it’s a notion that makes him chuckle—particularly the idea of banks hoarding properties they already own. “It kind of seems preposterous that they wouldn’t try to sell [houses] whenever they could,” he says. “Unless they’re getting money back from the government, it’s not in their best interest to hold onto those houses. It’s plausible, but mainly just confusing and ridiculous.” Ashworth puts it this way: “Does shadow inventory exist? Yes. Do we need to be concerned? No.” Back in 2011, he says, short sales and foreclosures comprised most of the market. Now he says more than 80 percent of it absorbed by good old regular sales. Even Schiller, who worked hard to convince skeptical crowds about the extent of shadow inventory estate last year, says that “we’re

“These unoccupied homes that are in some stage of foreclosure … have become a larger story lately, given the lack of inventory.”

Photos/Eric Marks

14 | RN&R |

recession that hit Nevada like a ton of bricks. “There’s plenty of blame to go around” with the mortgage crisis, he says, and he’s right. “We talk about it as numbers, but when you look at this as individual families, it’s terrible. It can wreck marriages, and cause a lot of long-term effects that nobody wants to discuss.” Free and low-cost classes, mediation and legal assistance are available to help Nevada residents get through the foreclosure process and ensure they’ve taken every possible step to keep their homes. Alder also stresses that anyone in such bind contact his or her attorney and CPA as soon as humanly possible. “There are a lot of people who’ve lost everything,” he says, “and they’re older; they’re not going to recover. The social impact of [foreclosure] is huge.”

Cory Edge Real estate agent APRIL 24, 2014

starting to return to what I would call a normal market. Is there going to be a time when hundreds of thousands of homes come flooding on our market and dramatically have an impact on inventory and pricing? No, I don’t think that’s going to happen. These things will work their way through.” There’s still work to do, he said, but “we’re extending the length of what I would consider to be our recovery.” As Ashworth says, “the banks have learned from the past five years that what happens when they release all these foreclosed houses at the same time is they kill the market. They take it on the chin because prices are down. … If I’m the bank and I’ve got 10 foreclosed properties, I’m not going to put ’em all on the market on the same day.” Let’s hope not. At the end of the day, Alder’s take sounds like consumerism spiced with Zen. “A lot of people I sell houses to, I tell them, ‘It may happen, or it may not,’” he says of potential shadow-inventory repercussions. “We can’t do anything about that. We’ve got to buy a home.” But for some buyers, especially first-timers, that may be easier said than done right now, thanks to a lack of supply. Prices were on the rise in 2013, Ashworth says, because so many investors snapped up cheap inventory the year before, which in turn increased demand. Those numbers are apt to level out, but not immediately.

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In other words, investors are a major force around here. Unassuming as they may appear, the bidders on the courthouse steps are “following particular properties for a long time before the foreclosure,” says Rick Sharga, Auction.com’s executive vice president. “They know exactly what properties they’re interested in, and how they’re going to bid. It really is a business.” In years past, Sharga says, “a trustee would just stand in a corner with a clipboard, with four or five investors he knew, and would divvy up properties.” That can still happen, for the record. An April 4 auction put on by Nevada Legal Support Services lasted all of 10 minutes, and involved roughly three attendees and a young, boredsounding rep who read addresses off a sheet of paper without removing an earbud from one ear. To be fair, she may have been waiting for calls about last-minute postponements and go-aheads. Auctioneer Seth Seever, who contracts with Auction.com, is fun to be around, though, and does the whole “$100,000-can-I-get-one-twenty, can-I-get-one-thirty-beedabuh-beedabuh” routine. Around 30 people trickle in to see him on April 11. It’s a sizable crowd, and the day begins with seven houses up for bidding. This can change at any time, however. Many who’ve gathered here are uncomfortable with the idea of seeing their names in print—so much so that one begins to wonder if

For now, buyers should brace themselves for interest rates that will slowly pick back up, higher prices at the midpoint, and scarcity in the $300,000-and-less range—“all challenges for someone looking for a first-time home,” Schiller adds. On the other hand, he figures, “all those things are good long-term for our market. They may be a little bit of a struggle or a hurdle to overcome for people who are looking to buy a first-time home right now, but they’re all good things, because we’ve had such dramatic swings in median price and inventory numbers over the last several years.” For what it’s worth, mid-range houses—ones that cost, say, $300,000 to $500,000—have more of a balanced market, Harding says, “and beyond that, it’s actually more of a buyer’s market. … But if you’re looking for a fourbedroom home and you’re only up to $225,000, you’d better be ready to jump on something, because there’s just not a lot out there.”

Savvy InveStIng Last year, more than 40 percent of all homes sales were cash, “which is a pretty high number,” Schiller says, “and leads one to assume that it’s a market driven primarily by investors looking to acquire property.” Many are from California, he figures, and able to pay cash on the Nevada side as their hometown economy improves, too.

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all the baseball caps and sunglasses are actually an attempt to blend into the scenery. “Everyone down here is a competitor,” as one silver-haired guy finally explains, “and if we paint a more rosy scenario, we’ll get more competitors. If we paint a more bleak scenario, well, things aren’t so bad.” As Seever starts doing his verbal acrobatics again in the background, another man turns on two voice recorders in case one malfunctions, then gets out a video camera and starts filming him, too. He says he’ll use this as study material. The house in question has an opening bid of $1,000, which everyone knows is pretty absurd, and it quickly sells for more than $170,000. “I just came here for the first time, to look at how it works,” says another potential investor, Shaukat Mehmood. He says a friend of his once bought a home for around $10,000, and now rents it out for $400 a month. ‘Maybe I can do it,” Mehmood says lightly. “Maybe I can’t. I don’t know.” A minute later, everyone turns to look at a convertible idling outside the courthouse. The driver is bassing a Beatles song, which is, A, actually possible, and B, even stranger in contrast to the fine-print, bureaucratic feel of the auction. It’s loud enough to rattle windows: “Help me if you can, I’m feelin’ dow-ow-own, and I do appreciate your bein’ rou-hou-ound … ” These investors are actually onto something, and they don’t seem as though they need much help. But the rest of us might. Ω

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APRIL 24, 2014

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KICKING STORM UP A

Katie Dow

The Nevada Storm is Reno’s full-contact women’s football team

’m not going to bury the lead here: Reno has a semi-pro, fullcontact women’s football team. They’re called the Nevada Storm, and they’re a big group of tough ladies who really love football. They love it so much, in fact, that they spend hundreds of dollars out of pocket each season to remain active in the Women’s Football Alliance (WFA), the top tier of semi-pro women’s football. They don’t have a regular practice field or a huge fan base, but what they lack in support, they make up for in dedication and determination. Sharon Seirer is a seasoned football player who has played for several semi-pro teams. “Usually

Photo/Eric Marks

The Nevada Storm in action against the Utah Blitz.

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when we say we play women’s football, everyone asks ‘Is it the lingerie league?’ And it’s like, no, definitely not the lingerie league. We’re semipro, you know, we have uniforms, we have standards, we go by NCAA rules, there’s a couple of leagues, there’s thousands of women across the U.S. that play in the league.” The Storm started as a 6-woman team a few years ago, playing only for kicks and a few family members and close friends. Steadily over time they have moved up the ranks, gaining players and coaches, moving into an 8-woman league, and finally into an 11-woman league in the West Coast division of the WFA, which is host to 64 teams across the country. Assistant coach Willie Seirer describes the league as “on the level of men’s baseball in the '20s and '30s. It’s road trips, there’s not luxury suites, there’s no airplanes flying anywhere, it’s get in the back of the

van and go.” He suggests that this lack of luxury and grandeur creates a purer form of football. “To my mind, it’s the purest form of the sport,” he said. “Nobody here is making money. They’re all here for the love of the game. They put in the hard work, they put in the knocks, they endure the injuries just for the love of the sport.”

Gathering Storm

Money to support the team comes solely from fundraising efforts, donations and out-of-pocket contributions from the players themselves. Rookies pay a $500 fee their first season and returning players shell out $400. The money covers basic costs like uniforms, referees for games, and field bookings. Players and coaches say the Nevada Storm could get a lot further in the league with more support from the community. “We’ve got to build up a reputation and build up a rapport with the community,” said Brandon

McGrath, the Storm’s head coach. “Hopefully [we can] get enough people to notice that it’s a fantastic sport and that they play hard and fast and fun and that it’s a good thing to spend 5 bucks on a Saturday to come watch a game.” Expenses are not the only obstacles these women face while trying to make a name for themselves in football. For the most part, the team relies on word-of-mouth and social media outlets like Facebook for recruitment, which makes it difficult to get a good turnout to expand their ranks. Janine Bodo, a trainer for the team as well as a team member, said, “Reno is a lot smaller than the other places that we compete against, so getting a full roster of girls is another challenge.” In addition, they are constantly vying with other recreationalists for field space as they do not have a permanent set-up for practice.

“We have a hard time getting athletic directors to commit to letting us use their field. We don’t even have a regular field to practice on,” Willie Seirer said. “We share [practice space] with the people who come out to play soccer. Some days we get pushed off the field, we have to go to a different one.” But it’s not all bad news for the Storm. There’s positive feedback coming from the community—at least from those who’ve heard of them. Megan Aguayo, a player on the team, describes some of the responses she’s heard. “Anytime anybody sees me in my shirt or hears that I play football, they have a ton of questions like, ‘You mean you really wear pads and hit each other, like you play real football?' That is so cool!’”

Along with developing community interest in their team, the Storm has been working on strengthening their fundamentals and performance on the field. Bodo says many of the women who come out to play have little to no experience playing football. They “pretty much all started from the ground. … We’re still building, we definitely have a lot to build on.” She believes that even though they have some kinks to work out, their “dedication and work ethic on the field will pay off.” The Nevada Storm recently played their first game of the season and while they suffered minor injuries and a loss, they feel like they came away with a stronger team identity and understanding of game play. “We might have lost in the big picture, but we learned a lot and it was a good experience,” said Aguayo. “We learned a lot of little things—what worked and what didn’t work, how the line is against a certain defense and things like that.” She expresses hope for a growing following. “When I first started watching them play sixes and it was just players' immediate friends and family. It wasn’t a big deal. But last year, they almost sold out Sparks High School’s stadium so it’s grown tremendously.

And I hope this year it grows even more.” As it stands, in order to grow and improve as a team, they still have a way to go. The first order of business is finding a regular field to practice on. In the words of Willie Seirer: “If we raise community knowledge we can get some connection with some schools and we can get a regular practice field. It does make it hard sometimes to figure out where 5 yards is when you’ve got no lines.” At the end of the day, the Nevada Storm is about playing football. Nobody makes any money. Most of the players’ choices to play are often at a cost to themselves. These ladies play the game for the sake of playing. The Nevada Storm is a 501c3 nonprofit, which means that any donation to help keep the lights on is a taxdeductible donation. The team makes most of its money through proceeds from people actually attending their games. Ultimately, local participation is the largest factor to keep them in the running. Their next home game is on Saturday, May 3, at Sparks High School at 6 p.m. For more information, visit www.nevadastormfootball.com.

WALK TO CREATE A WORLD FREE OF MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

WALK MS: RENO/SPARKS Saturday, May 3, 2014 Idlewild Park Terrace

90 Auto Center Dr. Southern California & Nevada 2014 Presented by

BE INSPIRED. GET CONNECTED. WALK MS. Walk MS connects people living with MS and those who care about them. It is an experience unlike any other — a day to come together, to celebrate the progress we’ve made, and to show the power of our connections. REGISTER & START FUNDRAISING TODAY: WalkToEndMS.org or 775.827.4257

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Think Free

The Great Basin Institute is Hiring for the 2014 Field Season

Field tech positions in biology, botany, archaeology and others Recreation and Wilderness outreach and inventory Restoration, forestry and trail crews Many positions available. Competitive salaries. Hiring bonuses available. Short- and longer-term positions in NV, CA, ID, WY, AZ and UT Career-building opportunities in the great outdoors!

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E E M E A DO

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ALLI

May 10-16, 2014

Bike to Work, School & Fun

www.thegreatbasininstitute.org/employment

Photo/Brad Bynum

Sonic youth

Denali Lowder likes the timeconsuming labor of making zines.

Denali Lowder Denali Lowder moved to Reno five years ago, when she was 17. For many people who grew up by here, Reno might seem more like a town Brad Bynum a teenage artist might want to move from, rather than a city she’d want to move bradb@ news review.c om to. But for Lowder, coming from what she describes as a “very rural” part of Washington state, Reno was an exciting place to be. She connected with the city’s punk rock scene and felt a need to document her experiences here. This archivist impulse to photograph every band and save every basement show denali Lowder’s minor flier was compounded by the general indifthreat opens next ference of most of her peers, who seemed month at Bibo Coffee to take the local music and art scenes for Co., 945 record St. granted. the opening reception is Friday, may 9 from “For me, those years, I just want to 6 to 8 p.m. For more document everything that happened to information, visit me and everything that’s happening right cargocollective.com/ now, because everyone else does take it for chipchip138 granted at this age—like, ‘I’ve got to get out of here!’ Not like, ‘Look what’s going on here!’” she said. Her exhibition Minor Threat, which opens next month in Bibo Coffee Company

on Record Street, will feature large, roughly 40-inch-by-60-inch images, which look like blown-up black-and white pages from a homemade, Xeroxed zine. The title of the exhibition, Minor Threat, references the name of a band that broke up before she was born, and the zine aesthetic—personal, homemade collage magazines—also seems to harken back to an earlier, pre-internet era. But it’s an aesthetic Lowder relates to directly. She spent her teens making zines and fliers for local punk bands, and documenting their shows with her camera. She likes the physicality—paper and staples—of zines more than the standard digital look of a blog. For her, it’s equivalent to the music fan that prefers to listen to vinyl records rather than digital files. She likes the timeconsuming labor of making zines. “The reason that I love zines so much is probably the same reason that I love collecting things and making prints,” she said. “It’s an extremely laborious process where you spend so much time making everything perfect, and you make this beautiful physical copy and there’s no digital copy.

If people want it, you have to actually see it and hold it and feel it.” And most of the bands she photographs are not nationally-known touring bands, but local groups whose shows might not otherwise be documented. She also has a radio show on Wolf Pack Radio, the university’s radio station, called Radio Chip Chip The images in Minor Threat include photographs of houses around Reno that hold sentimental power for her and images of local bands, like Thee Indoors and Prescription. The zine style collages have intentionally teenage-sounding titles, like, “House of Darkness, House of Angst.” In addition to the reference of one of the all-time great punk bands, the

title of her exhibition is also an homage to her youth, and particularly the years between 17 and 21, which this show represents for her. “You’re 17 and you see people that are 22 and you’re like, wow, he’s so old!” she said “You look around and think, I’m so stupid looking. These people are so cool! When you’re that age everything seems so much cooler.” It’s an age when everything seems like it’s part of some grand, epic narrative. Everything seems important. A random mid-week basement show with a couple of no-name bands might seem like the discovery of the lost ark. Lowder spent those years here in Reno, but moving here from a smaller town gave her an outsider’s perspective that allowed her to see the minutia of the experience, to experience things while simultaneously admiring the experiences from afar. “I think that’s a reason why I appreciate all these things and want to remember them,” she said. Ω

HauntX Haunter's Retreat & Trade Show May 9-11th | Circus Circus, Reno Join us for a Halloween Trade Show that includes education, trade show, friends and fun! Check out these freakishly fun events!

Thursday, May 8th- Paranormal Tour in Historic Virginia City

Buses load for Virginia City at 6:15- chow down at Red Dog Saloon while we wait for darkness. Group tours begin at 8pm. Expect to hunt ghosts, eat good grub, get a bit of history and drink at a few saloons before boarding the buses at midnight.

Friday, May 9th- Pub Crawl & Scavenger Hunt

Friday night we hit the streets of Reno in search of clues, prizes and fun. Dressed as Vampires our fearless participants will visit local hotspots to find clues and hidden treasure. Around midnight we will all meet up and winners will get prizes.

Saturday, May 10th- Circus of the Damned Masquerade Ball Costume Contest- prizes awarded for best male, best female and best group costumes DJ Jimmy Klein and DJ Kos | Admission includes beverage of choice and light appetizers Reno Ballroom

Sunday, May 11th- Grave’yard Salepremium haunted house quality merchandise OPINION

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French connection Beaujolais Bistro 753 Riverside Drive, 323-2227 Beaujolais Bistro chef and owner Bill Gilbert understands French gastronomy. He spent 12 years wearing his heart by Dave Preston on his chef’s coat and doing what he loves, cooking French food. He apprenticed with one of the best, Jean Pierre Doignon of Le Bistro at Incline. Beaujolais Bistro’s new location on the Truckee River sports a dozen stools at a proper bar, shaking nine custom cocktails ($10 each) and four trendy draft beers ($6-$10), but still small enough—45 seats—to maintain the bistro ambiance. Photo/Allison Young

Chef and owner Bill Gilbert works in the kitchen at Beaujolais Bistro.

For more information, visit www.beaujolais bistro.com.

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“It’s always been a special occasions place,” Gilbert said. Now, walkins for drinks and appetizers at the bar are a new approach, and Gilbert is seeing a new crowd. A menu ($6-$45) that changes daily attests to Gilbert’s desire to entice people to try his cuisine. Starters include seared foie gras with port wine sauce ($12), skillet smoked mussels ($15), and I tried the tapenade terrine ($12). It was a tri-colored round loaf stacked with a tapenade, an olive-based spread common in Mediterranean cuisine made with olive oil and seasonings mashed together into a thick paste. It's placed atop roasted eggplant and finely chopped beets on a base of goat cheese. It was a cascade of flavors in my mouth and so very elegant. From the salty expression of the olives on the savory eggplant to the sweet-tart of the beets finished with the creamy, opulent goat cheese.

A couple of baked Littleneck clams ($15) were set in front of me, almost obscure in presentation. One bite and they were totally relevant. The clams are removed and finely minced with some onions, carrots, thyme, Pastis, an anise-flavored liqueur, and housemade bread crumbs added, drizzled with butter, and then baked. It has almost a meaty texture rather than a whole clam feel, savory with a slightly sweet, aromatic butter-rich flavor. Other menu offerings include seared albacore tuna ($28) with a Romesco sauce, a nut and red pepper sauce from northeastern Spain; crispy rabbit loin ($29), with a hazelnut crust and dried fruit; and sweetbreads and bacon ($29) in shallots, sherry sauce with potatoes. And a long-time signature, liberty duck breast ($33) with kumquats and tangerine. The duck is from the Sonoma County Poultry Co., the lamb is from Niman Ranch, and the beef is from Durham Ranch, all the highest quality in product suppliers. Served on a bed of mashed potatoes, the duck was cooked to perfection with a crispy skin and moist meat that melted in my mouth. The tangerines and kumquats provided a sweet acidity adding another texture, delicately cutting the minimal fat the duck produced. The natural au jus married with the warm, lush fruits finessed the taste buds with a savory sweet indulgence with every bite. There’s a well structured wine list ($34-$300) with great French values among the New World wines and a dozen offerings by-the-glass ($11-$14). With the rich duck, I saw 2010 Château du Pin ($11) a Bordeaux. Upfront, there's lively fruit tastes, but with a satisfying length of flavor. This predominantly Merlot-based wine has all the charm and hallmarks of a Bordeaux. It shows juicy ripe cherry fruit with a smooth elegant wrap of fruit tannins. The wine has not been aged in oak barrels, so the pure fruit is a great example of the quality and style of the vintage—ripe, healthy grapes usually equal juicy wines. Yes, thick sauces still exist—thank goodness—as do venerated haute cuisine kitchens. But French cuisine has also become more accessible, and increased access to exceptional local product means that a place like this dishes out high-quality French fare in more down-to-earth environs. Ω

The Fair Housing Act protects families with children under the age of 18 from illegal housing discrimination. RECOGNIZE POSSIBLE SIGNS OF DISCRIMINATION:

■ “No kids” ■ Rules targeting children. ■ “Steering” families with children to ground floor units. ■ Higher deposits because of the presence of children. ■ “You won’t be happy here. There’s no playground.” Be aware that there is an exemption for qualifying senior/age-restricted housing communities

If you would like additional information or, believe you have been a victim of housing discrimination, contact:

Silver State Fair Housing Council

775.324.0990 ■ 888.585.8634 toll-free ■ Relay Nevada 711 ■ fairhousing@ssfhc.org ■ www.ssfhc.org

25 Years of ensuring equal housing opportunity in Nevada (1989 - 2014) Federal and State fair housing laws prohibit discrimination in housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, family status, disability, ancestry, sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. Funding for this announcement was provided by a grant from Washoe County in its effort to affirmatively further fair housing for all residents of the County. OPINION | NEWS | GREEN | FEATURE STORY | ARTS&CULTURE | ART OF THE STATE | FOODFINDS | FILM

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Off the Depp end Transcendence For those of you hoping Johnny Depp’s latest would make up for that dick move he made playing Tonto in The Lone Ranger last year, consider that hope dashed upon the rocks, swept out to sea, and ultimately devoured by sharks. Transcendence is terrible. This is another one of those “technology is evil” movies that suggest humans are by slaves to computers. That may very well Bob Grimm be true—I, for one, have been sitting at my damn computer all day—but movies haven’t bgrimm@ newsre view.c om really gotten evil computers right since 2001: A Space Odyssey and WarGames. Depp plays Will Caster, a seemingly mild mannered scientist who’s mapping out brains in hopes of creating a self-learning, artificial intelligence program capable of emotional growth. When a terrorist organization grazes him with a radiation-laced

"You ever get the feeling somebody's watching you?"

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bullet, he finds out he only has a few weeks to live. So it’s time to speed up his work and get his brain into a computer so he can keep hanging out with wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) after his body is dead. So Will dies and he does, in fact, get himself uploaded into a computer. He immediately starts asking for more power and access to the stock market and banks, actions that seem to clash with what a nice, bohemian type he was when alive. Evelyn, acting upon instructions from Computer Will, buys up a small town and starts rebuilding it with money made through shrewd, fast investing in the stock markets. Caster then builds an army of humans acting like robots because he’s healed them with computers and made them super strong, or some crap like that. It all makes little sense, and lacks any real sense of purpose.

5 excellent

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While Caster is portrayed as an out of control egomaniac for most of the film’s running time, the screenplay cops out in the end and tries to partially redeem him. It fails miserably. Morgan Freeman is on standby because the script called for a sympathetic type to rise up against Will Caster and hopefully save humanity. Cillian Murphy—remember that guy?—shows up as a crime investigator type who gets to run around with Freeman and look concerned. Murphy actually looks as if he’s angry to be in this movie, knowing that it is a dud and his part is worthless. I paid the big bucks to watch this goofy crap on IMAX and, let me tell you, there is really no reason to see the film this way. Not only does it suck as far as content is concerned, but the visuals and audio are nothing that need to be turned up to extremes. Only the preview for Godzilla was pleasing on this particular IMAX visit. Starting in 2010 with The Tourist and Alice in Wonderland, Depp’s garbage movie ratio has been on the rise. He made some stinkers before (The Brave, The Astronaut’s Wife), but you had the feeling he was at least trying to do something different when he screwed up. Depp became a commercial commodity with the Pirates movies and his dopey Mad Hatter character. Sequels for both of those movies are in production, so we know Depp will have plenty of money. It would be nice to see some more experimental, low budget stuff to go with those excremental behemoths. Actually, a big budget offering with a decent script and some edge would even be nice. Depp will always be a great actor. Heck, he even has moments in Transcendence where he transcends the trite material and shines a bit. I’m hoping these last four years are just a hiccup for him, and he gets back on it with some good director/ actor collaborations. Get on the phone with Scorsese, Anderson (Wes or Paul Thomas) or Tarantino and remind the world that you are not all about the big paycheck. Ω

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Like Thor 2 and Iron Man 3, this movie shows us how an Avenger deals with life after saving New York City from an alien attack. Cap (an endearing Chris Evans) is just trying to catch up on modern culture now. His list of things to do includes watching Star Wars and Star Trek, trying Thai food and listening to Nirvana. He’s attempting to settle into a world after being frozen for fifty years. Of course, he’s not going to be able to just kick back and relax because evil still exists below America’s shimmering surface, and governmental wrongdoings are going to challenge Cap’s ability to remain loyal to the country he’s named after. After an attempt on the life of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson just Samuel L. Jacksoning it like only Samuel L. Jackson can!), attention is called to the likes of somebody called the Winter Soldier, a fighting machine with powers similar to Cap and identity that won’t be revealed in this review. Cap’s mission eventually leads him to the discovery of HYDRA, an evil movement controlling members of the government, started back in the Nazi days. With Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Falcon (a well cast Anthony Mackie) at this side, Cap looks to take down HYDRA, kick the Winter Soldier’s ass, and possibly work in a date somewhere during the whole mess. The film packs a solid action punch, and some decent dramatics to boot.

Divergent

Shailene Woodley stars as Beatrice, a member of an alleged post-apocalyptic society where people are divided up into factions: Abnegation (The Selfless), Erudite (The Intelligent), Amity (The Peaceful), Candor (The Honest) and Dauntless (The Brave). This is another tween action movie based on young adult novels (written by Veronica Roth), and it’s a super dud. Directed by Neil Burger, the whole enterprise is remarkably lacking in tension, humor, creativity, originality and focus. Kate Winslet shows up as Jeanine, an Erudite with a mysterious whiff of evil. I imagine she’s the Darth Vader of this silly saga. Miles Teller (Woodley’s The Spectacular Now costar) gets what feels like a tacked on role as Peter, a member of Dauntless who gives Beatrice a hard time. It’s hard to watch these two very talented performers slumming in such stereotypical, unexciting parts. It’s a muddled affair that looks downright bad at times. It’s a tween wannabe franchise completely lacking teeth with a good central female star in the lead. I have faith that Woodley can pull this one out of the fire and make it worthwhile in future installments. I also have faith that I never want to see this flat first chapter again, unless I have a really bad cold and need something to knock me out.

Draft Day

In a film that feels more befitting a TV series than a theatrical release, Kevin Costner plays Sonny, general manager of the Cleveland Browns. It’s draft day, and Sonny has some big decisions to make after he trades away his future for the number one pick, much to the dismay of his head coach (Denis Leary). This is all happening after finding out he’s having a baby with a member of his staff (Jennifer Garner) and shortly after the death of his dad. Directed by Ivan Reitman, who usually helms straight comedies, this is a more dramatic offering from the guy who gave us Ghostbusters. If there’s a big problem here, it is that we watch Sonny go through all of this stuff on draft day, and never get to see the fruits of his labors. The film ends after the draft day is finished, and we never get to see the team play. I’m doubting there will be a Draft Day 2, so I’m thinking this would’ve worked better as an HBO series or something like that. Still, Costner is good in the role, and Reitman has constructed something that is entertaining, while not altogether groundbreaking.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Writer-director Wes Anderson does it again with another wholly unique, beautiful, quirky movie that could’ve only been made by him. In a performance that must be remembered come awards time, Ralph Fiennes is magically hilarious as M. Gustave, the concierge at the infamous fictional hotel named in the film’s title. Gustave has a penchant for older woman, much older woman, and his life takes a drastic turn when he is suspected in the murder of an elderly lover (Tilda Swinton in super heavy makeup). Stolen art, scary train rides and a high speed chase on skis ensue, with

Anderson even employing stop motion animation at times, as he did with Fantastic Mr. Fox. Supporting performances by Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody, Jude Law, F. Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Saoirse Ronan and many more make this a can’t miss film. There’s something so joyous and fun about the way Anderson makes movies. This is a remarkable, tremendously enjoyable achievement.

Noah

Whether you are religious or not, the Bible is, no doubt, a pretty sweet platform for over-the-top cinema. With Noah, director Darren Aronofsky has concocted a totally crazy, darkly nasty disaster film befitting those few pages in the book of Genesis. In his best performance to date, Russell Crowe plays the title character, a good, passionate man in a not particularly good time. The people outside of Noah’s family circle have turned Earth into a place of carnivorous debauchery. “The Creator” (this film’s go-to name for God) intends to wipe all humanity off the face of the Earth with a great flood, and Noah is tasked with saving all of the innocent animals on a huge ship to be built by him, with the help of large rock monsters. The movie, as spectacle, is quite good, although its CGI has a few moments of weakness. The flood itself is a frightening sequence, with a horrifying moment involving screaming people outside of the ark getting washed off a big rock by waves. I’m actually surprised this movie pulled a PG-13 rating. It struck me, very much, as an R-rated film due to its violence.

Oculus

Kaylie and Tim Russell (Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites) lost their mom, dad, family dog and a bunch of houseplants in a strange incident that involved a mirror in their dad’s office. Their dad (Rory Cochrane) had started his own company at home, and was working out of the office most of the time. His behavior got increasingly strange, much like Jack Nicholson in The Shining, and much to the dismay of his wife, Marie (Katee Sackhoff). The film starts off years after the deaths, with Tim is leaving a mental health facility and Kaylie hatching a plan to “Kill the mirror!” that was in their dad’s office and seemed to have evil powers. Tim killed their suddenly insane dad (resulting in his hospital stay), and Kaylie is determined to prove that both Tim’s actions, and their dad’s strange behavior, were the results of the mischievous mirror, mirror on the wall. While we do see strange reflections in the mirror, ghostly apparitions with white eyes walking around the house and people behaving strangely, it’s never really apparent why all of this is happening. Kaylie’s research reveals that the mirror has been sucking up souls for centuries, but how and why, well, who knows? Director and co-writer Mike Flanagan uses a lot of flashbacks to show us what happened to the Russell family, and it’s all quite disorientating and unnecessary. Gillan and Thwaites are terrible performers, and the movie, although containing a creepy scare or two, is a tedious affair.

Under the Skin

Scarlett Johansson stars in this spellbinder as an alien driving around Scotland in a hot Scar Jo body picking up men and doing very, very strange things to them. Director Jonathan Glazer uses minimal dialogue and actual, unsuspecting men on the street—some of the men Johansson talks to have no idea they are being filmed—for a chilling effect that will haunt you long after you leave the theater. This is the sort of intelligent science fiction and horror that was so prevalent during the heydays of Stanley Kubrick and William Friedkin, a brilliant exploration of alienation, victimization and the shallowness of obsession with outward appearances. While I can compare the work done here to the likes of Kubrick or Gaspar Noe, this is really unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There are moments so disturbing I wanted to run out of the theater, yet I couldn’t look away. This will surely stand as one of the year’s more unique, and more wonderfully disturbing, efforts. Yes, I’m giving it my highest rating, but this isn’t for everybody. Heck, it isn’t even for five percent of the population, so proceed with caution and don’t yell at me if it freaks you out and causes permanent damage.

Masters of suspense The Sisters Doom “Bring earplugs”: Following these few words of advice, I went to visit the elusive The Sisters Doom at their practice by Kent Irwin space. Prior to our meeting, I only had a few clues to the band’s identity. I found a video titled “Cult Status” which plays eerie ambient music to a display of bizarre images. Silhouettes of hands grasping at a screen. A shadowy woman standing in a field with an ax. A murder of crows in the mist. Captioned underneath it all is a common internet phrase turned foreboding: “Follow Us.” To bolster the cultist aesthetic, the band members have shed their family names and adopted the surname Doom. Intentionally obscuring their identities and sound is not just a gimmick. It serves a direct purpose. Many of the band members have histories working the Reno music scene. They want to make clear that The Sisters Doom is an entirely new band with an entirely new vision.

Photo/Kent IrwIn

groove than the crushing mudslide of doom metal, The Sisters Doom offer the feel of a different genre: the more geographically-appropriate “desert rock” pioneered by the down-tuned crunch of Kyuss in the Palm Springs desert in the 1990s. Because of their particular blend of rock drive and metal atmosphere, The Sisters Doom is cautious about which bands they play live with around Reno. “We love the Reno metal scene,” says Grey Doom. “But we don’t always fit the bill.” Audiences of Reno’s heavier acts might not find their bloodlust sated by The Sisters Doom. But fans of the concussive blues riffs of Black Sabbath will find a lot to love about this band. Guitarists Alex Doom and Jon Doom play loud and dark, bassist Grey deftly executes pentatonic arpeggios, drummer Michael Doom pounds relentlessly, and on top of the bloody crawl is a layer of intricate keyboard work by new recruit Suta Doom. Grey and Jon are veterans of the local scene, playing in bands for over a decade. Searching for a different sound, they sat together and started building songs from guitar lines. Next on board were Michael on drums and Alex on guitar. Outfitted with a solid rhythm section, they put their work on a short demo, which they sent to keyboardist Suta and vocalist Mark. “I played the demo in my car for a week,” says Mark. Once the lineup filled out, the focus of the music became a foundation of solid songwriting. The songs are fiery and reckless, like any good metal, but it’s apparent that there is an emotional eye in the storm. Mark's voice is at one moment melodic, the next a gritty howl. The lyrics center around alienation, self-destruction, the frustration of pursuing higher understanding. Although The Sisters Doom may make a deliberate effort of building suspense, don’t expect their shows to be flashy. Michael Doom stresses that the emphasis is on the sound, not the image: “Let the music speak for itself.” Ω

The Sisters Doom has a volcanic, ear-shattering sound that owes much to the classic doom metal of Pentagram and Electric Wizard. However, the band name is not necessarily a nod to the genre, but to doom in a philosophical sense. Singer Mark Doom cites several horror film directors as influences. Dario Argento, Roman Polanski and the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. “I am interested in how they build a sense of creeping dread,” says Mark. “I prefer those kind of movies to the whole ‘blood and guts on the floor’ thing.” The band’s sound is sludgy and distorted, with driving rock energy and pulse-pounding rhythms. Since the sound relies more on vintage rock

Interested in creeping dread: Grey Doom, Mark Doom, Suta Doom, Mike Doom, Alex Doom and Jon Doom of The Sisters Doom.

For more information, visit www.facebook. com/thesistersdoom.

OPINION

NEWS

GREEN

FEATURE STORY

ARTS&CULTURE

ART OF THE STATE

FOODFINDS

FILM

MUSICBEAT

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THIS WEEK

MISCELLANY

APRIL 24, 2014

RN&R

THURSDAY 4/24

FRIDAY 4/25

SATURDAY 4/26

125 W. Third St., (775) 323-5005

Blues jam w/Blue Haven, 9:30pm, no cover

Boogie Daddies, 9:30pm, no cover

6th Annual Green Party w/DJ Eric Lobe, others, 9pm, $5

DG Kicks, 9pm, Tu, no cover

5 STAR SALOON

Karaoke, 10pm, no cover

DJ Boogi, 10pm, no cover before 10pm, $5 after

All That Glitters Auction & Show, 10pm, no cover before 10pm, $5 after

Open Mic w/Steve Elegant, 7pm, Tu, Karaoke, 10pm, Tu, W, no cover

THE ALLEY

A Night of Song & Storytelling w/Tempo, Lucas Young, Liam Kyle Cahill, 8pm, $5

Kung Fu Vampire, Dirtbag Dan, G-Mo Skee, Wiked Troopz, 7:30pm, $13-$15

Walk Away Alpha, Ostracized, Blasphemous Creation, 8pm, $5-$7

CEOL IRISH PUB

Pub Quiz Trivia Night, 8pm, no cover

The Clarke Brothers, 9pm, no cover

Blarney Band, 9pm, no cover

CHAPEL TAVERN

Sonic Mass w/DJ Tigerbunny, 7pm, no cover

Good Friday with rotating DJs, 10pm, no cover

3RD STREET

132 West St., (775) 329-2878 906 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 358-8891

Mark Sexton Band April 25, 9 p.m. St. James Infirmary 445 California Ave. 657-8484

538 S. Virginia St., (775) 329-5558 1099 S. Virginia St., (775) 324-2244

COMMA COFFEE

COTTONWOOD RESTAURANT & BAR 10142 Rue Hilltop, Truckee; (530) 587-5711

Bourgeois Gypsies, 7pm, no cover

DAVIDSON’S DISTILLERY

Comedy

275 E. Fourth St., (775) 324-1917

3rd Street, 125 W. Third St., 323-5005: Comedy Night & Improv w/Patrick Shillito, W, 9pm, no cover

FOXY OLIVE

EL CORTEZ LOUNGE

235 W. Second St., (775) 324-4255

Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover

Out of the Blue, 7pm, no cover Unwanted, 9:30pm, no cover

9below0, 9:30pm, no cover

Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover

Turnt to the Max Saturdays w/Guda Mac, DJ Van Gloryus, 9pm, no cover

Anvil, No Small Children, Pain Clinic, 7:30pm, $15

Beware of Darkness, 7pm, M, $7 Hatchet, 7:30pm, W, $8-$10 Traditional Irish Tune Session, 7pm, Tu, no cover

CW and Mr. Spoons, noon, M, no cover

Karaoke w/Nitesong Productions, 9pm, Tu, Open mic w/Frazzled, 9:30pm, W, no cover Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover

FUEGO

Live flamenco guitar music, 5:30pm, no cover

GREAT BASIN BREWING CO.

846 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 355-7711

Danny Butler and Joe Stanley, 8pm, no cover

The Improv at Harveys Cabaret, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Stateline, (800) 553-1022: Kivi Rogers, Don McEnery, Th-F, Su, 9pm, $25; Sa, 8pm, 10pm, $30

HACIENDA RESTAURANT AND BAR

Midnight Fire, 8pm, no cover

170 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-1800

10580 N. McCarran Blvd., (775) 746-2228

Tom Russell, 7pm, M, Tu, $20-$25 Tyler Stafford, 8pm, no cover

HARRY’S SPORTS BAR & GRILL

Open mic, 7pm, no cover

1100 E. Plumb Ln., (775) 828-7665

HIMMEL HAUS

Open Mic Night, 9pm, M, no cover Trivia Night, 9pm, W, no cover

3819 Saddle Rd., South Lake Tahoe; (530) 314-7665

THE HOLLAND PROJECT 140 Vesta St., (775) 742-1858

Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, M, no cover Karaoke with Brian, 9pm, Tu, W, no cover Trash Rock, 9pm, Tu, no cover

220 Mill St., (775) 324-0822

Catch a Rising Star, Silver Legacy, 407 N. Virginia St., 329-4777: Orlando Baxter, Th, Su, 7:30pm, $15.95; F, 7:30pm, 10pm, $15.95; Sa, 7:30pm, 10pm, $17.95; Max Dolcelli, Tu-W, 7:30pm, $15.95

Reno-Tahoe Comedy at Pioneer Underground, 100 S. Virginia St., 686-6600: Will C and Chris Cope, F, 7pm, Sa, 6:30pm, 9:30pm, $14, $17

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 4/28-4/30

Post show s online by registering at www.newsr eview.com /reno. Dea dline is the Friday befo re publication .

Drum Circle hosted by Lightfeather, 6pm, no cover

312 S. Carson St., Carson City; (775) 883-2662

SUNDAY 4/27

Kill Lincoln, Ten Cent Mistake, The Shames, 7:30pm, $5

Skating Polly, Something About Machines, T-Rex Pushup, 8pm, M, $5

JAVA JUNGLE

Outspoken: Open Mic Night, 7pm, M, no cover

246 W. First St., (775) 329-4484

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RN&R

| APRIL 24, 2014

JAZZ, A LOUISIANA KITCHEN 1180 Scheels Dr., Sparks; (775) 657-8659

JUB JUB’S THIRST PARLOR 71 S. Wells Ave., (775) 384-1652 1) Showroom 2) Bar Room

KNITTING FACTORY CONCERT HOUSE 211 N. Virginia St., (775) 323-5648

THE POINT 3001 W. Fourth St., (775) 322-3001

THURSDAY 4/24

FRIDAY 4/25

SATURDAY 4/26

Erika Paul, 6pm, no cover

First Take featuring Rick Metz, 6pm, no cover

SUNDAY 4/27

Bill Davis, 6pm, no cover

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 4/28-4/30

2) Amigo the Devil, Actors Killed Lincoln, Lonely River Drifters, Josiah Knight, 1) Blazin Mics!, 10pm, M, no cover 7:30pm, $5

1) SIN, Slut Fungus, Bat Country, 8pm, $TBA

2) This Revolution Will Be Televised! w/Metaphysical, DeSaint, MoMatik, others, 8pm, $5

American Goodfellas, PostWar, The Third Gavin DeGraw, Parachute, Rozzi Crane, Wheelers, 6:30pm, $8 at the door 8pm, $32.50-$65

Cash’d Out, 8:30pm, $13-$26

Karaoke hosted by Gina Jones, 8:30pm, no cover

Karaoke hosted by Gina Jones, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke, 8:30pm, Tu, 9:15pm, W, no cover

Gemini, 9pm, no cover

Richie Ballarini, 7pm, W, no cover

POLO LOUNGE 1559 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-8864

Tom Russell

RED DOG SALOON

April 28-29, 7 p.m. Great Basin Brewing Co. 846 Victorian Ave. Sparks 355-7711

Open Mic Night, 7pm, W, no cover

76 N. C St., Virginia City; (775) 847-7474

RUBEN’S CANTINA

Karaoke, 8pm, no cover

1483 E. Fourth St., (775) 622-9424

RYAN’S SALOON 924 S. Wells Ave., (775) 323-4142

SIDELINES BAR & NIGHTCLUB 1237 Baring Blvd., Sparks; (775) 355-1030

SIERRA TAP HOUSE

Biggest Little City of Tree’s Tour, 9pm, $TBA

Nuclear Salt, The Volery, Victims of the Cave, 8pm, $3

Hip Hop Open Mic, 10pm, W, no cover

Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Boogie Daddies, 9pm, no cover

Blues, 8pm, Tu, no cover Live jazz, 7:30pm, W, no cover

CRVSH, 9:30pm, no cover

Renegade, 9:30pm, no cover

Open Jam with Tazer and Friends, 8pm, W, no cover

Beware of Darkness

Beercan!, 9pm, no cover

252 W. First St., (775) 322-7678

ST. JAMES INFIRMARY 445 California Ave., (775) 657-8484

STUDIO ON 4TH 432 E. Fourth St., (775) 410-5993

Mark Sexton Band, Failure Machine, 9pm, no cover

Dance party, 9pm, no cover

Ghostwriter, 9pm, M, no cover Tuesday Night Trivia, 8pm, Tu, no cover

Bohemian Burlesque: Femme Fatale, 7pm, $15-$20

Open Mic Wednesdays, 7pm, W, no cover

Karaoke w/Rock N’J Entertainment, 8pm, no cover

Koolwater Karaoke, 7pm, W, no cover

VASSAR LOUNGE 1545 Vassar St., (775) 348-7197

WILD RIVER GRILLE

April 28, 7 p.m. The Alley 906 Victorian Ave. Sparks 358-8891

Sunday Jazz, 2pm, no cover

17 S. Virginia St., (775) 284-7455

WILDFLOWER VILLAGE

The Writer’s Block Open Mic, 6:30-9pm, no cover

4275-4395 W. Fourth St., (775) 787-3769

Reno Music Project Open Mic, 6:30pm, no cover

Wildflower Comedy Power Hour Open Mic, 8:30pm, Tu, no cover

Ryan’s saloon

& BRoileR - APRIL 25th -

Adina Howard DOORS OPEN @9PM • 18+ - April 26th -

Runway Fashion Show FEATURING DJ JABBERWOCKY, BLACK ROCK CITY ALL STARS DOORS OPEN @6:30 21+

Saturday, April 26 THe BooGie daddies 9PM-1AM

- May 5th -

Weds THuRs FRi sun

Cory Gunz 18+

Through June 8th

Jazz BINGO Karaoke Breakfast

7:30pm 7pm 9pm 9:30am

with $5 Bloody MaRy's

- May 10th -

Ryan’s saloon and BRoileR

Fur Party

924 S. Wells Ave. Reno • 323-4142

www.RyansSaloon.com

555 East 4th St, Reno • BodegaNights555@gmail.com OPINION

NEWS

GREEN

FEATURE STORY

ARTS&CULTURE

IN ROTATION

ART OF THE STATE

FOODFINDS

FILM

MUSICBEAT

NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

THIS WEEK

MISCELLANY

APRIL 24, 2014

RN&R

THURSDAY 4/24

FRIDAY 4/25

SATURDAY 4/26

SUNDAY 4/27

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 4/28-4/30

3800 S. Virginia St., (775) 825-4700 1) Grand Ballroom Stage 2) Cabaret

2) Hindsight, 8pm, no cover

2) Hindsight, 4pm, All In, 10pm, no cover

2) All In, 8pm, no cover

2) Palmore Brothers, 8pm, M, Tu, W, no cover

BOURBON SQUARE CASINO

Country Night w/DJ Bobby G, 6:30-10pm, no cover

DJ Bobby G, 9pm, no cover

2) Melissa Dru, 8pm, no cover

2) Phil Prunier, 6pm, no cover

2) Phil Prunier, 6pm, M, Tu, W, no cover

2) David Jacobs-Strain, 10pm, no cover

2) Tim Snider & House of Waters, 10pm, no cover

1) Ring of Fire, 7pm, $24.95+ 2) Alias, 10:30pm, no cover 4) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover

1) Ring of Fire, 8pm, $24.95+ 2) Alias, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Skyy High Fridays, 10pm, $10 4) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover 5) Tany Jane, 10pm, no cover

1) Ring of Fire, 7pm, 9:30pm, $24.95+ 2) Alias, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Four Play Saturdays , 10pm, $10 4) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover 5) Tany Jane, 10pm, no cover

1) Ring of Fire, 7pm, $24.95+ 2) Alias, 10:30pm, no cover 4) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover

1) Ring of Fire, 7pm, Tu, W, $24.95+ 2) Live Band Karaoke, 10pm, M, DJ Chris English, 10pm, Tu, Garage Boys, 10:30pm W, no cover 4) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, W, no cover

2) Biggest Little Celebrity Contest w/DJ Rick Gee, 10pm, no cover

1) Spring Breaks w/Mt Eden, Figure, Felix Cartal, 8pm, $20-$25

2) DJ R-Boogie, 9pm, no cover

15 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (775) 588-6611 1) South Shore Room 2) Peek Nightclub

2) DJ Cre-8, 10:30pm, no cover

1) The Temptations featuring Dennis Edwards, 8pm, $66-$71.50 2) DJ Rick Gee, DJ SN1, 10pm, $20

HARRAH’S RENO

1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, $17.20-$47.20 2) DJ I, 8pm, no cover 3) Doug Martin, 8pm, no cover

1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, $17.20-$47.20

1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, M, $17.20-$47.20

JOHN ASCUAGA’S NUGGET

1) Sarah Maisel & Craig Chee, Heidi Swedberg & Daniel Ward, 8pm, $32

1) Daniel Ho, Gerald Ross, 8pm, $28

2) Kyle Rea, 6pm, no cover

2) Kyle Rea, 6pm, M, Tu, W, no cover

ATLANTIS CASINO RESORT SPA

1040 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 997-7177

CARSON VALLEY INN

Barenaked Ladies

2) Melissa Dru, 7pm, no cover 1627 Hwy. 395, Minden; (775) 782-9711 1) Valley Ballroom 2) Cabaret Lounge 3) TJ’s Corral

CRYSTAL BAY CLUB

April 25, 8 p.m. Silver Legacy 407 N. Virginia St. 325-7401

14 Hwy. 28, Crystal Bay; (775) 833-6333 1) Crown Room 2) Red Room

ELDORADO HOTEL CASINO

345 N. Virginia St., (775) 786-5700 1) Showroom 2) Brew Brothers 3) BuBinga Lounge 4) Roxy’s Bar & Lounge 5) Stadium Bar

GRAND SIERRA RESORT

Karaoke

2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000 1) Grand Theater 2) WET Ultra Lounge

Elbow Room Bar, 2002 Victorian Ave., Sparks, 359-3526: Th, 7pm, no cover Hangar Bar, 10603 Stead Blvd., Stead, 677-7088: Karaoke Kat, Sa, 9pm, no cover Murphy’s Law Irish Pub, 180 W. Peckham Lane, Ste. 1070, 823-9977: Steve Starr Karaoke, F, 9pm, no cover Ponderosa Saloon, 106 South C St., Virginia City, 847-7210: Steel Rockin’ Karaoke, F, 7:30pm, no cover West Second Street Bar, 118 W. Second St., 384-7976: Daily, 8pm, no cover

HARRAH’S LAKE TAHOE

1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 219 N. Center St., (775) 788-2900 8pm, $17.20-$47.20 1) Sammy’s Showroom 2) The Zone 3) Sapphire Lounge 4) Plaza 5) Convention Center

1100 Nugget Ave., Sparks; (775) 356-3300 1) Celebrity Showroom 2) Rose Ballroom

PEPPERMILL RESORT SPA CASINO 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121 1) Tuscany Ballroom 2) Terrace Lounge 3) Edge

2) Ike & Martin, 7pm, no cover

SANDS REGENCY CASINO HOTEL

1) David Hayes Lounge Act, 8pm, no cover

345 N. Arlington Ave., (775) 348-2200 1) 3rd Street Lounge 2) Poolside

SILVER LEGACY

2) Bonzai Thursdays w/DJ Trivia,

8pm, no cover 407 N. Virginia St., (775) 325-7401 1) Grand Exposition Hal 2) Rum Bullions Island Bar 3) University of Aura, 9pm, no cover 3) Aura Ultra Lounge 4) Silver Baron Lounge

RN&R

APRIL 24, 2014

2) Ike & Martin, 8pm, no cover 2) Ike & Martin, 8pm, no cover 3) Salsa dancing, 7:30pm, $10 after 8pm, 3) Fredie’s Hair Metal Birthday Bash, DJ Chris English, DJ ((Fredie)), 10pm, $20 10pm, $20 1) David Hayes Lounge Act, 8pm, no cover

1) Barenaked Ladies, 8pm, $59.50-$79.50 1) Anthony Jeselnik, 8pm, $25-$35 3) Fashion Friday, 9pm, no cover charge 3) Seduction Saturdays, 9pm, $5 for women 4) Little Sister, 9pm, no cover 4) Little Sister, 9pm, no cover

1) Moses Malone, 7pm, W, no cover

2) Recovery Sundays, 10pm, no cover 3) Industry Night, 9pm, no cover

2) Gong Show Karaoke, 8pm, Tu, Country-Rock Bingo w/Jeff Gregg, 9pm, W, no cover

For a complete listing of this week’s events, visit newsreview.com/reno

Spring Wings Festival

Reno Ukulele Festival The sixth annual festival celebrates the humble stringed instrument, which is often heard in Hawaiian music but is also prominent in other musical genres. The event begins on Thursday, April 24, and continues through Saturday, April 26, on the second floor of John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave, Sparks. More than 20 ukulele builders will be on hand in the musical marketplace and a public stage will feature free performances and lessons for all levels of players. Headlining acts include swing jazz duo Sarah Maisel & Craig Chee with fellow uke players Heidi Swedberg & Daniel Ward, who will hit the Celebrity Showroom stage starting at 8 p.m. on Friday, April 25. Tickets are $32. Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Daniel Ho and multi-instrumentalist Gerald Ross will perform at 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, in the Celebrity Showroom. Tickets are $28. Call 356-3300 or 2200995 or visit http://playuke.net. OPINION

NEWS

GREEN

Treasure Our Parks Fun Run/Treasure Quest

Reno Chamber Orchestra The RCO concludes its 2013-2014 season with a collaboration with the University of Nevada, Reno Chamber Singers. Maestro Theodore Kuchar will lead the choir and orchestra in Haydn’s dramatic “Lord Nelson" Mass. The program will also feature Maestro Kuchar’s own arrangement of the String Quartet No. 1 by Janacek and a performance by the winner of the RCO’s annual College Concerto Competition. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, and 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 27, at the Nightingale Concert Hall in the Church Fine Arts Building, 1335 N. Virginia St. at UNR. Tickets are $22-$45 general admission and $5 for youth and students. Call 348-9413 or visit www. renochamberorchestra.org.

As part of its Healthy Parks Healthy People initiative, Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation presents this event that kicks off Treasure Quest, a day of family fun at the Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, 1595 N. Sierra St., on Saturday, April 26. The 5K begins at the Chinese Pagoda at 9 a.m., followed by a free one-mile kids' fun run at 10 a.m. The registration fee for the 5K is $25 per person for runners ages 13 and older. Proceeds from the fun run help Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation further its mission to raise awareness and appreciation of parks. Following the run, kids can explore various free hands-on activities highlighting treasures found here in Northern Nevada during Treasure Quest from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For fun run registration, visit www. tmparksfoundation.org/5k. For info on Treasure Quest, visit www.knpb. org/events/treasure_quest.

FEATURE STORY

ARTS&CULTURE

ART OF THE STATE

View various types of shorebirds and waterfowl that fly through the Lahontan Valley during this annual spring migration. The 17th annual festival offers tours, workshops, exhibits and other birding-related events on Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26. The indoor activities take place at the Churchill County Fairgrounds, 325 Sheckler Road, Fallon. Outdoor activities will take place at the Lahontan Valley Wetlands. For a list of events and remaining availability of birding tours, visit www.springwings.org.

Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon TheatreWorks of Northern Nevada presents this extravaganza that attempts to recreate all 209 Brothers Grimm fairy tales. This oneact play takes the well-known stories of princesses, witches, wood-cutters and dwarves and spins them together into a fast-paced, comic effort to fit every tale ever told into a single hour. The play will be performed by the TheatreWorks of Northern Nevada Youth Company, a troupe of 8- to 12-year-old child actors. Performances start at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, April 27, at the Laxalt Auditorium in the Warren Nelson Building, 401 W. Second St. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. Call 284-0789 or visit www.twnn.org.

—Kelley Lang |

FOODFINDS

FILM

MUSICBEAT

NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

THIS WEEK

MISCELLANY

APRIL 24, 2014

RN&R

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CINCO DE MAYO at the Arroyo Mexican Grill! On Monday, May 5th, enjoy a pair of succulent grilled swordﬁsh tacos on fresh, handmade tortillas served with shredded red cabbage, jicama and a Tamarindo glaze for only $6.00. Also sample any one of our over 90 tequila selections all day long for only $5.00 a shot or sit on our outdoor patio with an iced bucket of six beers of your choice from 14 different brands for only $15!

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APRIL 24, 2014

I’m a woman sharing a house with several roommates. We’re all in our mid 20s. This one male roommate and I sometimes cook meals together, and we share a bathroom (since we’re both cleaner than the other roommates) and deep-clean the kitchen together. I’ve always been attracted to him, but he spends three nights a week with a girl he calls his “booty call.” Last week, we were home alone together, had some wine … and ended up having sex. We haven’t spoken much since, and he’s still seeing this same woman just as much. He’s moving out next week and relocating out of state for work in two months, but I can’t help wondering whether a relationship is possible. Should I just say goodbye and avoid embarrassing myself or take a more active approach? I can’t tell whether my feelings are sincere or whether I’m just sad because the other roommates are not as clean or as interested in cooking. It’s so rare to find a roommate who cleans the kitchen, I can't understand why you wanted to sleep with him. Don’t read too much into finally getting it on with Mr. Clean. There’s a reason a guy seizes the opportunity to have sex with a woman, and it’s typically the one British mountain climber George Mallory reportedly gave when asked why he wanted to tackle Everest: “Because it’s there.” Sometimes sex can kick-start a relationship, but in this case, it merely seems to have kick-continued the sex he’s been having three times a week with somebody else. Also, a guy who is interested in a relationship with you acts the

part—asks you out; he doesn’t ask for his security deposit back so he can move to another state. Taking “a more active approach” will not change this. In fact, for a woman, it’s often a very counterproductive approach. Forget the idea that you “should” be able to pursue a man the same way a man would pursue you. As I explain with some frequency, men evolved to pursue women and tend to devalue women who chase them. This is a deep-seated thing, embedded in our psychology and driving our behavior over millions of years of human history, down to our bitsiest bits. The sperm chase the egg. The egg does not chase the sperm. In other words, you found a lost cause, hopped aboard, and are now riding it like a pony. You are not alone in this. We humans have a powerful aversion to loss. When it starts to look like we’ve made a bad bet, we engage in the “sunk cost fallacy”—continuing to invest based on how much time, energy, resources or emotion we’ve already invested. Of course, the rational approach would be basing any further investment on whether it’s likely to pay off in the future. Acknowledging this will free you up to meet a guy who does want you. As for you and your scrub-buddy roommate, it’s like that scene with Rick and Ilsa at the end of Casablanca: “We’ll always have Clorox.” Ω

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by rob brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): If for some

inexplicable reason you are not simmering with new ideas about how you could drum up more money, I don’t know what to tell you—except that maybe your mother lied to you about exactly when you were born. The astrological omens are virtually unequivocal: If you are a true Aries, you are now being invited, teased and even tugged to increase your cash flow and bolster your financial know-how. If you can’t ferret out at least one opportunity to get richer quicker, you might really be a Pisces or Taurus. And my name is Jay Z.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You remind

me of a garden plot that has recently been plowed and rained on. Now the sun is out. The air is warm. Your dirt is wet and fertile. The feeling is a bit unsettled because the stuff that was below ground got churned up to the top. Instead of a flat surface, you’ve got furrows. But the overall mood is expectant. Blithe magic is in the air. Soon it will be time to grow new life. Oh, but just one thing is missing: The seeds have yet to be sewn. That’s going to happen very soon. Right?

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Here’s an

excerpt from “Celestial Music,” a poem by Louise Gluck: “I’m like the child who / Buries her head in the pillow / So as not to see, the child who tells herself / That light causes sadness.” One of your main assignments in the coming weeks, Gemini, is not to be like that child. It’s true that gazing at what the light reveals may shatter an illusion or two, but the illumination you will be blessed with will ultimately be more valuable than gold.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Would you

like to forge new alliances and expand your web of connections and get more of the support you need to fulfill your dreams? You are entering the season of networking, so now would indeed be an excellent time to gather clues on how best to accomplish all that good stuff. To get you started in your quest, here’s advice from Dale Carnegie: “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Does Jamaican

sprinter Usain Bolt run faster than any person alive? As far as we know, yes. He holds three world records and has won six Olympic gold medals. Even when he’s a bit off his game, he’s the best. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he set the all-time mark for the 100-meter race—9.69 seconds—despite the fact that one of his shoelaces was untied and he slowed down to celebrate before reaching the finish line. Like you, Bolt is a Leo. I’m making him both your role model and your anti-role model for the foreseeable future. You have the power to achieve something approaching his levels of excellence in your own field—especially if you double-check to make sure your shoelace is never untied and especially if you don’t celebrate victory before it’s won.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In his un-

published book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, John Koenig coins new words that convey experiences our language has not previously accounted for. One that may apply to you sometime soon is “trumspringa,” which he defines as “the temptation to step off your career track and become a shepherd in the mountains, following your flock between pastures with a sheepdog and a rifle, watching storms at dusk from the doorway of a small cabin.” To be overtaken by trumspringa doesn’t necessarily mean you will literally run away and be a shepherd. In fact, giving yourself the luxury of considering such wild possibilities may be a healing release that allows you to be at peace with the life you are actually living.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “The supreme

pleasure we can know, Freud said, and the model for all pleasure, orgasmic pleasure, comes when an excess tension built up, confined, compacted, is abruptly released.” That’s an observation by philosopher Alphonso Lingis. I bring it to your attention, Libra, because I expect that you will soon be able to harvest a psycho-spiritual version

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APRIL 24, 2014

of that supreme pleasure. You have been gathering and storing up raw materials for soul making, and now the time has come to express them with a creative splash. Are you ready to purge your emotional backlog? Are you brave enough to go in search of cathartic epiphanies? What has been dark will yield light.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The potential turning points that might possibly erupt in the coming days will not become actual turning points unless you work hard to activate them. They will be subtle and brief, so you will have to be very alert to notice them at all, and you will have to move quickly before they fade away. Here’s another complication: These incipient turning points probably won’t resemble any turning points you’ve seen before. They may come in the form of a lucky accident, a blessed mistake, a happy breakdown, a strange healing, a wicked gift or a perfect weakness.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

If you happen to be an athlete, the coming week will not be a good time to head butt a referee or take performance-enhancing drugs. If you hate to drive your car anywhere but in the fast lane, you will be wise to try the slower lanes for a while. If you are habitually inclined to skip steps, take shortcuts, and look for loopholes, I advise you to instead try being thorough, methodical and by the book. Catch my drift? In this phase of your astrological cycle, you will have a better chance at producing successful results if you are more prudent than usual. What?! A careful, discreet, strategic, judicious Sagittarius? Sure! Why not?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): My

interpretation of this week’s astrological data might sound eccentric, even weird. But you know what? Sometimes life is—or at least should be—downright unpredictable. After much meditation, I’ve concluded that the most important message you can send to the universe is to fly a pair of underpants from the top of a flagpole. You heard me. Take down the flag that’s up there, and run the skivvies right up to the top. Whose underpants should you use? Those belonging to someone you adore, of course. And what is the deeper meaning behind this apparently irrational act? What exactly is life asking from you? Just this: Stop making so much sense all the time—especially when it comes to cultivating your love and expressing your passion.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You need

to take some time out to explore the deeper mysteries of snuggling, cuddling and nuzzling. In my opinion, that is your sacred duty. It’s your raison d’etre, your ne plus ultra, your sine qua non. You’ve got to nurture your somatic wisdom with what we in the consciousness industry refer to as yummywarm-fuzzy-wonder love. At the very least, you should engage in some prolonged hugging with a creature you feel close to. Tender physical touch isn’t just a luxury, it’s a necessity.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Your body

contains about 4 octillion atoms. That’s four with 27 zeroes after it. Believe it or not, 200 billion of that total were once inside the body of Martin Luther King Jr. For that matter, an average of 200 billion atoms of everyone who has ever lived and died is part of you. I am not making this up. (See the mathematical analysis here: http:// tinyurl.com/AtomsFromEveryone.) As far as your immediate future is concerned, Pisces, I’m particularly interested in that legacy from King. If any of his skills as a great communicator are alive within you, you will be smart to call on them. Now is a time for you to express high-minded truths in ways that heal schisms, bridge gaps and promote unity. Just proceed on the assumption that it is your job to express the truth with extra clarity, candor and grace.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes and daily text message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at (877) 873-4888 or (900) 950-7700.

Think Free

by D. Brian Burghart PHOTO/D. Brian BurgHarT

Allied powers Vanessa Vancour is coordinator of the Nevada Media Alliance at the Reynolds School of Journalism and Center for Advanced Media Studies. She can think on her feet, a talent that sometimes gratefully puts individuals on the pages of newspapers when an interview falls through and the editor is in class on deadline. She can be reached at vvancour@ unr.edu.

You seem young for this position. What qualified you for it? I’m trying to think what the job description even was. It was a mixture of some journalism and then building relationships and growing the Alliance to whatever that could be. I came in with a background in journalism, I got my degree in journalism from USC [University of Southern California] in broadcast and then worked in digital media. I thought that since the school was infusing the curriculum with more of the new media, or finding ways to do that that still fit within journalism, it felt like the best of both world in terms of what I love and what I had training in and where I had come from.

And what was your primary job? When I first came here, I worked as a TV journalist for four years. And then I worked in PR-slash-social media for a year, and then I worked in digital media for three years.

You worked on TV for four years? I did not know that. Who did you work for? The TV station doesn't even exist anymore. It was inside the Meadowood Mall, it was KREN/Univision. I came for that. It was a TV start-up, essentially with a local investor, the Pappas family, a big Greek family. It was a really cool concept because most of the VJs—we all did our own stuff—had to be bilingual. So we produced a 6 o’clock Spanish newscast and then a 10 o’clock English newscast. And we had some kind of loose partnership with KOLO to use their live shots. Sometimes we used their photogs. So I worked there for a year, then I went to Channel 4, and I worked there for three years, three-and-a-half years. And then I left that to go to RSCVA. I worked there for a year, and then I worked the Noble [Studios] for three years.

You have the job. You’re here, and you’re going to develop the Nevada Media Alliance. What

LV goes against type Notice how the Colin Kaepernick “big bad sex fiend” story just kinda dried up and blew away? That’s because (1) the woman in question had previously been a bedmate of Kap’s, (2) she wasn’t raped or given roofies, and (3) nobody gives a dumpy doobie about pro athletes smoking weed. Seriously, celebrities smoking pot is nowadays about as scandalous as celebrities eating doughnuts. Of course, millions of dolts who only read headlines these days— actually, they don’t read at all; they get their celebrity “news” from TMZ videos—now believe that Kap is a raging perv and a creep. So it goes. And we wonder why the guy is wary of the media ... • An interesting story in the L.A. Times this week about the water situation in Vegas, and how work is carrying on furiously to get a new, lower intake valve constructed at Lake Mead so if the lake level keeps dropping, as expected, LV will still be able to access its water allotment. This OPINION

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My first priority is to focus on the Nevada Media Alliance. The beauty and the challenge of the Alliance is that it is so new. It celebrated its first birthday in January. For at least the first two semesters, we had these partnerships with the [Reno GazetteJournal], KNPB and KUNR. The students would produce content pretty regularly. This semester, we took a totally different approach and worked on a class project which was focused around a topic, and there was no daily reporting. They were just building this thing for the big project for the end. Next semester, I’ll be doing a business journalism class as a spin-off of what the [Participatory Journalism] class is doing now. It will have a couple of advisers from the business side, including our new chair for media entrepreneurship, and the students, undergrads, will cover the tech community as a way to learn business and learn local government and to open their eyes to other opportunities. That’s kind of the immediate goal—i s growing the partnerships, but they should be strategic. ... We have all this room to grow, but what does it mean? What kind of partnerships should we be developing, how should we form our partnerships? My other kind of long-term goal is multi-cultural, multi-lingual reporting. Right now, I think there is a lot of buzz around technology and innovation, and those words by themselves mean nothing to me, so that's kind of the hot thing right now. But I think the next thing is going to be diversity and approaching it from a cultural point of view. Whether that means different ethnicities or cultures or just forcing journalists into communities they're not as familiar with. Ω

∫y Bruce Van Dye desert sure didn’t hurt. Money talks, bullshit walks. Or in this case, money talks and bullshit becomes a thoughtful part of that brand new Xeriscape look. ”Look, honey, how nice that big ole spray-painted cow chip looks next to the big cactus!” The truth of water usage in LV is surprising. The next time smart alecks like me want to point to that giant fountain pool in front of Bellagio as proof of LV’s insane attitude with water, I should remember that the Strip uses all of 3 percent of LV’s water supply. That’s it. Three percent. By comparison, the real water gobblers are the parks, golf courses, and lawns of LV, which soak up a stunning SEVENTY PERCENT of Vegas’ H2O! Two takeaways from this article: (1) There will never ever be another Lake Las Vegas. (2) Are you taking notes, TMWA (the Truckee Meadows Water Authority)? Ω

is the kind of news that makes the folks out in White Pine County uneasy, since Vegas still has its big hairy eyeball on that $15 billion pipeline project that would bring thousands of acre feet of eastern Nevada and western Utah water down to Clark County so all those extremely important new tennis clubs, oil change joints, and boob job clinics can be built. But while it’s easy to portray Vegas as a huge, fat, dangerous pig, it’s also true that the city is doing some very commendable things in the realm of innovative and effective water conservation. For example, water use in LV has been cut by 33 percent in the last few years while the city has grown by 400,000. That’s some solid, significant work in water conservation (conserve? How dare you even mention the word!) How’d they make that happen? The creation and administration of a $200 million fund that paid homeowners to get rid of that thoughtless mutant lawn and replace it with plants more suitable for the harsh

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