June 5, 2014 by Reno News & Review

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

Mayors on pot See News, page 10.

Sheep happenS See Green, page 12.

theatrical production See Arts&Culture, page 18.

the west is the worst See Film, page 22.

RENo’s NEws & ENtERtaiNmENt wEEkly

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5-11,

2014

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for your favorite people, businesses and things in the RN&R’s Best of Northern Nevada reader survey! As the region’s most credible and most thorough survey of its kind, we once again have lots of categories! Look through these and come up with some ideas on who you’ll vote for, then go online to www.newsreview.com/reno and click on the “Best of Northern Nevada” icon to vote!

Culture

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Casinos & GamblinG Best casino Best casino hotel Best casino restaurant Best casino bar Best casino arcade games Best female casino bartender Best male casino bartender Best casino buffet Best casino comedy club Best casino game dealer Best casino dance club Best casino promotion Best casino show Best casino band Most eco-friendly casino Best sportsbook Best poker room Best place to cash your check Best customer service Best casino wedding planning Best casino to hear quiet music Best casino spa Best casino security Best casino-hotel for romantic getaway Best casino color scheme Best casino carpet

Best place to get pierced Best shoe selection Best boutique clothing store Best hotel for a romantic getaway Best bank Best credit union Best mortgage company Best grocery store Best specialty ice cream store Best pet store Best pet supply store Best pet boarding Best skateboard store Best wireless phone service coverage Best brothel Best motorcycle dealer, shop Best new car dealership Best used car dealership Best place for photo prints Best photography supply store Best Pilates studio Best Pilates instructor Best yoga studio Best yoga instructor Best outdoor outfitter Best optical shop Best hospital Best doggy daycare Best athletic shoe selection Best business Facebook page Best independent bookstore Best independent CD music store Best independent coffee shop Best independent computer store Best independent grocery store Best independent used bookstore Best local non-casino business Best new business Best newspaper Best outdoor gear selection Best place for music lessons Best place to buy playa garb Best print shop Best public relations agency Best publication (that’s not us) Best selection of local art Best spectator sport Best sunglasses selection Best wedding event planner Best wedding reception site Best workout wear selection Best independent hardware store Best veterinarian Best Pawnbroker

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outdoors Best golf course Best local hot springs Best mountain biking Best outdoor beer garden Best picnic spot Best place to ride a personal watercraft Best place to swim Best ski resort Best skiing Best snowboarding Best spot to hike Best spot to run around naked Best spot to smooch under the stars

Personalities

Best athletic coach Best attorney Best barista Best thrift store Best bartender, female Best local place to work Best bartender, male Best landscaping company Best beard Best house cleaning service Best chiropractor Best video game store Best club doorman/bouncer Best gadget store Best cocktail server Best wine shop Best college instructor Best cheap liquor store innovations Best creative writer Best women’s clothing boutique Best local innovation: activism Best men’s clothing store Best local innovation: collaboration Best dentist Best children’s clothing boutique Best local innovation: living space Best elementary school teacher Best gynecologist Best place to buy a firearm Best local innovation: service Best high school teacher Best place to shoot firearms Best local innovation: technology Best interior designer Best jewelry store Best local innovation: working Best local actor/actress Best mall space Best local athlete Best tanning salon Most innovative local artist Best local columnist Best frame shop Most innovative local casino Best local comedian Best spa Most innovative local cocktails Best local filmmaker Best dry cleaners Most innovative local company Best local musician Best bookstore Most innovative local menu Best local politician Best place to get an auto smogged Most innovative local music Best local radio DJ or DJ team Best place to buy a musical Most innovative local nonprofit instrument Best local rapper Most innovative local promotion Best gym Best local songwriter Most innovative local startup Best place to buy CDs Best local TV news business Best specialty foods store Best local TV news anchor Most innovative local teacher Best adult-themed store Best local TV news hairstyle Best computer store Best massage therapist kids & Family Best place to buy vintage clothes Best arcade games Best middle school teacher Best used clothing store Best charter school Best minister/spiritual advisor Best antique store Best family outing Best muralist Best bicycle shop Best local library Best music teacher Best flower shop Best park Best naturopathic practioner Best beauty salon Best place to introduce kids Best pet groomer to nature Best hair stylist Best photographer Best place to picnic with kids Best aesthetician Best plastic surgeon Best place to take the kids Best nail technician Best police officer Best things to do on a Friday night Best politician Best barber Best toy store Best barber shop Best principal Best weekend activity Best garden nursery Best public figure to fantasize Best weeknight activity about Best car wash Most kid-friendly restaurant Best public relations professional Best home furnishings store Best real estate agent Best apartment complex Best social networker niGhtliFe Best place to get a car repaired Best visual artist Best tattoo parlor Best all-ages spot Best volunteer Best tattoo artist Best bar

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Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review. One of my master’s degrees requires I fulfill 160 hours of an internship. Obviously, it would be ethically difficult to work for a competing journalism outfit without creating entire layers of conflicts of interest, so the powersthat-be allowed me to complete the requirement with my special project, Fatal Encounters. I have a University of Nevada, Reno faculty mentor, who’s going to guide me along, but I’m pretty self-actualized on this project, so I hope he’ll have a relaxing summer. For the first project of my internship, I filed for nonprofit status with the state of Nevada. I’m doing this for two reasons: 1) I accept donations on the website, so it’s the law; 2) A pretty good-sized Western university has offered to partner with me on the site, and they’ve mentioned some pretty sweet perks. Apparently, the formal nonprofit status helps enable the partnership. We’ll see. The internship is basically supposed to revolve around the data entry of a year’s worth of data for the United States. I figure if I work 16-hour days, seven days a week for the next month, I might be able to get all the information I have into the www.fatalencounters.org database. And then we’ll have something worth talking about. In the meantime, since the registered address for the nonprofit just happens to be my home address, I’m very concerned that visitors will see a nice environment with a nice new garden on the east side of the yard, a good vegetable garden in the backyard, and a clean, professional looking interior with clean and freshly caulked windows. I’ll write again when I return from my month of unpaid labor. While I’m gone, call Brad Bynum at ext. 3520 with arts and culture questions and complaints, call Dennis Myers at ext. 3522 with your newsier questions and complaints, and call Sage Leehey at ext. 3514 with all your compliments.

Re “Why give up a good story?” (Upfront, May 1): Ah, but what shall we believe? In my personal opinion, Harry Reid has the hand of the press, and I find it hard to believe the propaganda that is fed to us by the Democratic supporting press. Christine Cederwood Minden

—D. Brian Burghart

brianb@ ne wsreview . com

It’s all modified Re “The organic food lie” (Feature story, Feb. 13): In my opinion, it is necessary to genetically modify many of the fruits and vegetables we eat today. Along with the debate on the growing population and the need for more food and larger portions, much of the food you believe to be organic has already been modified. Have you ever gone to your local organic market or a Whole Foods and thought the corn you were serving with dinner was a healthy, organic portion for your family? Healthy: yes; non-modified organic: no. Corn wouldn’t exist today without the genetic modification of maize. A large portion of crops would die without stress modifications, or modifications made for security against pests. These modifications aren’t designed to harm us; they’re designed to aide the prosperity of the crops and the prosperity of our ever-growing population. Taylor Seghesio Reno

A question for Heller and Sandoval Re “Bundy’s example” (Feature story, May 1): Regarding the recent comments from Gov. Brian Sandoval and U.S. Senator Dean Heller and their support (and now non-support) of Cliven Bundy. The law enforcement officials who confronted Bundy

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are employees of the federal and state governments. As elected officials, Sandoval and Heller are the government. The law enforcement personnel are their employees. They supported the militia when they pointed their assault weapons from behind barricades at their employees. Isn’t that the same as supporting/cheering on armed gunmen as they as they enter your place of business or school? Dewey Quong Reno

It’s the feds Re “A bunker mentality” (Feature story, May 1): The Land Management Bureau acted illegally, more like an army, when the U.S. code designates that it use local law enforcement to enforce laws. The militias were there to try to avoid another Waco or Ruby Ridge slaughter, which they did. Militia members openly said they would not shoot first but would return fire if fired upon. Rancher Bundy’s recent archaic social commentary is a side issue to this. Ernest Serano Reno

It’s the media Re “A bunker mentality” (Feature story, May 1): Gotta say, these trashy Hasbrotroll style attacks on Cliven Bundy are truly the height of yellow journalism. What really galls me is that they’re coming from a publication that attempts to peddle its image as that of a non-mainstream news source. Truly amazing, the speed with which Reid can marshal his lackeys. Sheila Leslie is right about one thing (a stunning anomaly for her): There is indeed an armed revolt in this country’s future. But it won’t be on account of a female militia member getting killed. This has been brewing for some time, fed from both sides of the aisle. The people have been gradually waking up to the realization that

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

Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Design Melissa Bernard, Brad Coates, Serene Lusano, Kyle Shine, 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

neither party is worth a pinch of owl shit, and they’re fed up. The Phony Left vs. Right paradigm no longer serves to divide the citizenry; their guns are well oiled; the rounds have been stockpiled. It’s on. And the guys operating the military equipment—the tanks and planes—with whom do you think they’ll choose to stand? Their families and loved ones or the chickenhawks who send them overseas to kill brown people? If I were one of the self-serving politicians who’ve been selling our nation out to foreign powers and destroying the Constitution, I’d be a little worried about being strung up from the Capitol Rotunda. So be sure to get your shekels up front for your propagandizing, as it might become problematic to collect later on. Just sayin’. And welcome to the mainstream media. Robert Orlin Franklin Johnson Sun Valley

Not a drop to drink Re “A bunker mentality” (Feature story, May 1): This is more about water than cattle. The corporations who hold our politicians’ leashes weave a tangled web of deception, using the media to pit the left against the right. Remember those third world countries that were contaminated destroying environments and making citizens sick or killing them. Well that’s us now, our public lands and our residence. After the gold rush in the mid-1800s, mercury is still present in our waters. Then our government contaminated 1.6 trillion gallons of water, exposing Nevadans to high levels of radiation. Next there is the second wave of miners wasting 100 million gallons of water each year and releasing 20,215 parts of mercury into our air. By the way, these are foreign multinationals enjoying windfall profits with little taxation. Now the fracking comes to our state with more contamination and water waste to come. If you say it’s for the national reserve, why

Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager Anthony Clarke Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Russ Dilley, Joe Medeiros, Ron Neill, Andy Odegard, Jesse Pike, Dylan Ross, Marty Troye, Matt 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

did they build the Ruby Pipeline that goes to docks into Oregon for transport overseas? I think Nevada has given enough to our country! As the BLM gives out mining and energy leases like candy with little or no oversight by an underfunded, corrupt, criminally non-functional EPA. This is all in state that has declared parts of Nevada a national disaster zone due to prolonged drought. How is that Gulf Cleanup going with BP in charge on their own mess? Maybe the citizens of Virginia will get comfort from their poisonous tanks knowing that the corporation that poisoned them went bankrupt, but cancer does not care. If you care about yourself, your children, water, cattle, wildlife, hunting, farming, fishing or Nevada you will stand and fight together. Corporations are bound by law to support their stockholders no matter what the cost, but the game is rigged in their favor by our politicians. The bell rings on wall street, they’re having a party, and you’re not invited. Roberta Moose Reno

Pick your own candidates Re “The times they aren’t a’changin’” (Editor’s note, May 8): I agree business affiliations and service club memberships do not make a good mayor for the people. Endorsements from other politicians are even worse. I have been in Reno over 25 years and have seen them come and go. We are living in 2014 and our local government leaders both present and some of the future hopefuls are still in the mindset of the 1980s. It is time to carefully research who the candidates are and their platforms and issues important to them, and see that they are for the people of this city and not some perk they might get down the road. Arthur Mason Reno

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Your favorite movie? Asked in downtown Reno

Rewana Bonaldi Legal assistant

I have a lot of favorites, but I think one of my favorite is The Philadelphia Story with Katherine Hepburn. And I think it’s because my mom used to watch those kind of movies when I was little and it’s cozy, home.

Autumn Helder Autism behavioral interventionist

Breakfast at Tiffany’s, because it’s classic. It’s just a simple story. It’s a different time. It’s very interesting to look back at what was accepted and what wasn’t. It’s a cool movie to watch.

Peter Sferrazza Judge

Fit the crime

I think The Last of the Mohicans. Daniel Day-Lewis did a superb job. It was good music, good scenery and good story.

Some states have been reducing their prison populaFormer Nevada lobbyist Harvey Whittemore remains tions by finding different ways of punishing nonviolent free as his conviction winds its way through the appeals process in the federal court system. He was convicted on offenders. And when a case as visible and highly publicized as the Whittemore case ends in a sentence three counts of violating campaign contribution limits like this, it send a powerful message that prison time by using beards to get around the limits. U.S. Supreme is still an acceptable way of dealing with nonviolent Court rulings have thrown much of federal election offenses—even, as in this case, first time offenses. law into doubt, so it is conceivable that the laws under When Judge Larry Hicks sentenced Whittemore, which Whittemore was convicted could be overturned, he used language that was more akin to that of the invalidating his convictions. district attorney he once was—here in Washoe County, But our concern today is one that has been with in fact—than of an impartial judge, suggesting that he us since his sentencing. Whittemore drew two years needs to make a better adjustment to in prison, 100 hours of community his current role. service, and $100,000 in fines. Why punish “The evidence shows black and The fines and community service white where the money came from, are not a problem, in our view. What both Harvey from Mr. Whittemore to his friends is a problem is the prison time, and it Whittemore and and family and employees all for goes far beyond this particular case. the purpose of them making phony Our society uses prison in ways that the taxpayers? contributions to Harry Reid,” the challenge good sense, productive judge said, which is true, and—if the penology, and sometimes sanity. verdict is upheld—certainly calls for punishment. But in Prisons are loaded with nonviolent offenders when there punishing Harvey Whittemore, where are the sentencing exist ways of punishing that would benefit us all. guidelines that say the taxpayers must be punished at the As of March 18 of last year, the U.S. Bureau of same time? Prisons put the average cost of a federal prisoner at All over the United States there are deeds needing $28,893.40. There are currently 217,001 federal prison doing, from soup kitchens to failing infrastructure. inmates. The number of prisoners in state facilities and Nonviolent offenders have hands with which to do them, their cost is more difficult to ascertain, but the reader and taxpayers would benefit instead of paying. Two can get a pretty good picture from the fact that the total years in prison, Judge Hicks said, when he could just as prison population in the United States is over 1,500,000. easily said two years in community service. And get this—most of them are nonviolent. It’s time to stop thinking of punishment only in terms of warehousing. Ω OPINION

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Bobby Stigler Retiree

True Romance because of Gary Oldman, Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette. I like Tarantino and his movies, his style.

David Crockett Student

The Breakfast Club. It’s one of those timeless classics that can be watched over and over again, and you won’t get tired of it. Like, I could watch it 30 years from now with my partner, and it’ll still be enjoyable.

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Erik Holland for mayor Casting a vote for Mayor among 18 possibilities should be easy. Eliminating three-quarters of the field didn’t take me very long. Anyone Mayor Cashell or the Chamber of Commerce endorses is not for me. I’m not interested in voting for people who will continue by to give away my tax dollars to their Sheila Leslie business cronies. If trickle-down economics worked, we’d have plenty of high-paying jobs with great benefits. Instead, we have layoffs in the Fire Department, underresourced parks and recreation, and a highly-leveraged City that is lucky to cover its payroll each month. In the past, I’ve been open to voting for Republicans, especially in non-partisan races. Not so much these days. Anyone still willing to run on the Republican ticket after the past decade of Tea Party domination with its anti-tax, antiwoman, anti-gay, anti-minority, anti-immigrant, anti-science and anti-poor people policies doesn’t

share my values. Seems harsh but so is trying to control my personal life through a political philosophy based on one religious tradition and personal greed. So that leaves me with just a handful of people to choose from, all of whom I know personally and respect. They’d all work hard and take the job seriously. Each has an independent voice and would be unlikely to be a pawn of big business or take a staff report as gospel. They’re already asking the right questions, and I’m pretty sure they’re in the race for the right reasons. Early voting numbers have been abysmal and all signs point to a turnout even lower than the typical paltry rate, which means each vote will count much more than usual in an open primary with 18 candidates. My neighbors and I have talked about voting as a bloc for a consensus candidate to extend our influence. It’s a smart idea but we can’t seem to settle on one person. Should

we choose the person we think most likely to be able to compete against one of the corporate candidates in a general election? Or be true to ourselves and choose the person who best represents our values? We had some experience with crowded primary voting in Ward 1 last cycle when we had to choose among nine candidates. We went with our preferred independent voice, Jenny Brekhus, and we’ve not been disappointed. Even though she had to compete citywide in the general election, a city policy that prevents us from choosing our own representative (and a violation of the Voting Rights Act), Jenny campaigned effectively and easily defeated the “business candidate”. However, if we split the progressive vote for mayor among several people, we could end up with two of the “business is everything” candidates in November. But it seems the corporate titans are also split among several candidates, so if our side votes in greater numbers, we

could end up with two progressive candidates on November’s ballot. That outcome would delight us like no other. I don’t believe all that much in endorsements and I don’t think most voters do, either. If you’re going to take the time to vote, presumably you’re capable of making an informed decision. Nevertheless, in my opinion, you won’t go wrong if you vote for Idora Silver, Hilary Schieve or Dolores Aiazzi. But I’ll be voting for Erik Holland. He’s running on the issues I care about: directing growth towards the urban core, enhancing public transportation, and making developers pay for the real cost of their projects. And he’s willing to publicly support the margins tax so our children can have a better future. Erik may not make it through the primary, but he’s the person who best represents what I want for Reno’s future—a vibrant, healthy city that cares more about its citizens than corporate profits. Ω

“I only smoke five cigarettes a day” HE COULD STILL HAVE AN ANEURYSM ONE CIGARETTE IS ONE TOO MANY

6 | RN&R |

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Nevada’s Republican Party and liberty There is a national battle going on for the soul of the Republican Party. At the Nevada State Convention on April 12, Nevada Republicans passed a freedom-oriented libertarian/Tea Party State Platform. It probably is the most freedom-centric state Republican Party platform in the by Brendan United States. Trainor Behind this victory for liberty were two long-time Storey County activists. Cynthia Kennedy and Juanita Cox went to the Las Vegas convention with three objectives in mind. One was to take out as many conservative social platforms as possible. The second was to add as many liberty platforms as possible. And the third objective was to let the Republican establishment know that Nevada was upset about the new Republican campaign bylaws that make it even tougher for an insurgent candidate like Ron Paul to become a Republican nominee for president in 2016. To their delight they succeeded in all three goals. And as icing on the cake, the

convention voted for Rand Paul in its presidential straw poll. There is no pro-life plank in the 2014 Nevada Republican Platform. No mention of abortion at all. There is also no platform supporting or opposing gay marriage, although people of different sexual orientation are deemed to be as free as others. The platform correctly denounces attempts by government to force religious institutions and individuals to violate their conscience. The platform is almost as bereft of heavy government moralism as a Saturday night at Dennis Hof’s Bunny Ranch. The platform is very strongly in favor of the Second Amendment. No one would expect otherwise. The cool thing is it singles out the Fourth Amendment as just as important as the Second. It urges repeal of provisions of the PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act, Defense Authorization Act, NSA warrantless surveillance, and all other laws that “violate fundamental privacy rights afforded by the Constitution.” The platform urges the “reduction of

military commitments around the world to their original mission of national defense” and asserts only Congress can declare war. The Tenth Amendment and state control of the public lands receives much love. There are inconsistencies and omissions. While the platform supports energy markets free from subsidies, it wants Yucca Mountain to be a “world class nuclear research reprocessing and science facility.” Sounds like a subsidy for nuclear power to me. There are good sections on education and health care. Education reforms like having the money follow the child is a sound idea. Obama Care must be opposed, while free market health care reforms like purchasing insurance across state lines are proposed instead. But then the platform calls for full funding for Medicare. It refuses to take on the paradox of supporting balanced budgets while opposing any cuts to Medicare.

I am disappointed with the immigration platform, but I concede that it could have been a lot worse. While hardly free market, it at least has toned down the rhetoric. While Republicans say they want government to run like a business, basic business practices like supplying services in a minority language must give way to their “English as the official language” silliness. All immigration laws must be slavishly obeyed at all levels of government, no matter how stupid and inhumane they are. They support state-level immigration laws presumably more restrictive than federal, but oppose sanctuary cities. The major factions of the Republican Party, the neocons, big government social conservatives, the chamber of commerce establishment, and the libertarian/tea party faction, will continue to fight for power and for the votes of the electorate. Nevada has now declared where it stands. Ω

Nevada GOP responds to Oklahoma committeewoman’s attack on platform: www.nevadagop.org/ nevada-gop-respondsto-oklahoma-committeewomans-attack.

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Sparks Mayor Geno Martini and Reno Mayor Bob Cashell chat with several people at the Halfway Club after a lunch with the two mayors purchased in a silent auction.

Rich white guys drop the ball White savages at the Washington Redskins can’t seen to catch a break in Nevada. First the team, acting on May 29 through a public relations firm, invited Te-Moak Western Shoshone Tribe chair Joseph Holley of Battle Mountain to fly to D.C. Details were vague, he said. “Someone working for the team called me out of the blue to invite me to a meeting in D.C. with the team and its owners and wanted to know what I thought of the team name,” Holley said in a prepared statement. “They did not tell me what the meeting was about, what I would be doing or who else was invited and wanted my answer in just a few hours. My answer was no. I’ve got responsibilities to my community and members here at home and can’t be running off to D.C. at a moment’s notice to meet with a football team to do who knows what.” Then, that same day, the team asked its disciples to “Tweet @ SenatorReid to show your #RedskinsPride and tell him what the team means to you.” Nevada Sen. Harry Reid has been harshly critical of the Redskins team name, and half the Senate has sent letters to team owner Dan Snyder asking for a change. The results included, alongside the kind of postings the team hoped for, tweets like this: “Celebrating genocide and touchdowns #redskinspride.” “@SenatorReid The @Redskins name means racism. Always has, always will. And that’s the way rich white guys like it. #RedskinsPride.”

Cashell may seek med license Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said he may consider applying to operate a medical marijuana dispensary. A rumor that he may apply for a dispensary license has been circulating in Reno. When asked, he didn’t deny it. “I’ve not done any of that, at this point,” he said. “My daughter has a daughter that’s used [cannabis medication] a little bit, and she’s working with some people and stuff like that. But if a business opportunity comes along, I might look at it.” Since Cashell was with Sparks Mayor Geno Martini at the time we interviewed him, we asked Martini the same question. “I don’t have the wherewithal, the finances to be able to do it,” Martini said. “I don’t want to get involved in it.” It’s definitely a line of work limited to the rich, to the point that the program has been called discriminatory. Applicants must have a quarter million dollars in liquid cash plus a $5,000 application fee.

Historic vote cast The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 218 to 189 on May 30 to withhold federal funds for the enforcement of federal laws that interfere with state government-approved medical marijuana programs. All four Nevada House members supported the amendment, which was added to a criminal justice funding bill (H.R. 4660). The vote was treated in California as a message to President Obama and his U.S. attorneys in that state who have cracked down on medical dispensaries in spite of Obama’s pledges to leave state programs alone. The amendment was sponsored by California Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, and Sam Farr, a Democrat. It tapped into some Republican libertarian sentiment, which—when joined with traditional Democratic votes—resulted in a very rare pro-marijuana vote in Congress. It’s not clear whether there has been another pro-marijuana vote in the House since 1937, when the plant was banned at the behest of alcohol and timber lobbies and over the objections of the American Medical Association. 170 Democrats and 49 Republicans voted for the amendment, 172 Republicans and 17 Democrats against.

—Dennis Myers

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Who’s in charge? When voters lay down the law, some officials balk It was midday at Casale’s Halfway Club on East Fourth Street. Though lunch is not always a big thing here, today by there was a group of 10 people Dennis Myers around a single table. Tom Case had bid in a silent auction on lunch for 10 with the mayors of Reno and Sparks at Casale’s. He won, and this was the gathering. It was a fairly affluent group gathered around the table, so it was perhaps surprising that one of the first questions was about medical marijuana, directed at Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, who had recently endorsed its health care use. Seated under a poster for Birra Peroni lager, Cashell explained again the evolution of his thinking on the matter, which involves his hearing neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta explain the issue on CNN.

“It shouldn’t need political cover, really.” Geno Martini sparks mayor Medical marijuana, approved by voters in Nevada 13 years ago, was accepted reluctantly by state legislators, who approved measures requiring patients to produce their own medicine. Not until last year did they provide for dispensaries, and they handed administration of the dispensaries over to local

governments—which, in turn, was accepted reluctantly by many city and county officials. In a couple of jurisdictions, dispensaries have been outlawed instead of licensed. While not as dilatory as some local governments, Reno took its time moving on cannabis medication by using “stay ordinances” that delayed the issue. It was one of several local governments that waited on the state to draft regulation and did not begin preparations until then. Washoe and Clark counties, by contrast, were moving much faster. In Lyon County, Sheriff Allen Veil opposed dispensaries. “Where there’s marijuana, organized crime has a finger in it, if it’s not controlled by them,” Veil said. “The potential is great for abuse and money laundering and there’s absolutely no reason Lyon County should want to be a part of that.” Those issues, however, involve policy judgments, and the voters had set the policy. Sheriffs are not policymakers—it’s their job to carry out the policies made by legislators or voters, and in this case the voters were pretty clear what they wanted. Cashell and Sparks Mayor Geno Martini are both local politicians, and after their lunch broke up they lingered. If voter approval doesn’t give politicians cover, what does? “It was something voted on by the people and so on and so forth,” Martini said. “It shouldn’t need political cover, really. You know, they

[voters] want to do it. It’s legalized now. We’re going to control it. I don’t see a big problem with it. I’m not a proponent of recreational, but medical marijuana, I think, can help people that have certain diseases, and I think it’s the right thing to do.” Cashell said, “It’s got to be controlled and run right and everything else, but the voters voted for it. You know, I’ve noticed a town in Colorado refused to do it. I heard its sheriff talk on TV the other night. Citizens over there really upset with the old boy, so I think they’ll probably do it.” Those are safe answers, but not all local officials around Nevada have the same attitude. Should officials regard passage of an initiative petition as instructions from the voters? Martini: “I would think it is, yes. I think an initiative petition, especially the way it passed—it passed pretty good, it wasn’t a close vote, I don’t believe. It passed with a pretty good percentage—that’s a mandate from the people that they want to do it. It’s something that we should look at and do.” Cashell: “It’s proven that alcohol and stuff like that causes many problems, and I think we can regulate medical marijuana also.”

Brains or robotics? For political scientist Fred Lokken, initiative petitions raise more complicated questions. Laws enacted by the legislature ideally go through scrutiny and processing that seeks problems and anticipates difficulties. It doesn’t always work out that way, but in many cases it does (See feature story, page 13). Initiative petitions, on the other hand, present the public with an up-or-down vote on a measure drafted by a special interest group and its language is locked in. In addition, there are limits on the ability of the Nevada Legislature to change laws approved by the public. “Public policy initiatives that become law through voter approval do not reflect the vetting that takes place in the legislative process,” Lokken said. “The legislators make mistakes and they spend a nice long time on legislation.” So what chance is there that initiatives will be flawless? In some cases, legislators immerse themselves in subjects, learning a good deal about the topics of legislation. That’s not a process that voters go through. “Increasingly, initiatives begin outside the state,” Lokken said. “They are foisted on the voters of Nevada.”

Initiative petitions have become an industry, one that involves big money. It’s a long way from the Progressive Era intent of a tool that would let ordinary voters overcome money and power. But more than that, initiatives are rarely prepared with the care given to measures passed by legislatures, where both supporters and opponents scrutinize measures and have their say. And local officials now trying to implement the marijuana law also lack familiarity with the issues, which raises the question of whether they should try to block it by indirection. That was indicated by one exchange after the two mayors’ luncheon. When it was pointed out that the discussion took place under the beer poster, and that the number of deaths known to be caused by marijuana consumption— zero—is outnumbered by those caused by alcohol consumption—about 88,000 deaths annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control—both mayors indicated surprise. “Are you sure that there’s never been something that’s proven that was marijuana-related deaths?” Martini asked. “Then that’s even something that says more towards something we need to do, then, if there’s never been a death that was caused by marijuana. I didn’t realize that.” “I didn’t either,” Cashell said. “That’s very new to me,” Martini added.

“ I think we can regulate medical marijuana.” Bob Cashell reno mayor Should local officials in some areas be substituting their own policy judgment for that of the voters? “That’s pretty hallowed ground,” Lokken said of public votes. But what if there actually is a flaw in the law approved by the public after it was drafted by one or a few people? A lot of initiatives contain what Lokken called “muddy language” whose meaning is up for grabs. In Nevada, some initiatives can’t be touched for three years after they are approved by voters. Even then, there is some reluctance by legislators to change it, though they overcame their reluctance when casino lobbyists last year pressured them to water down an antismoking law passed by voters. But if there is a real problem with a law—and political pressure is not the issue—then what should legislators do? Lokken said voters should ask themselves a question. “What kind of legislators do you want? Do you want them to have a brain and an opinion or do you want them to be a robot and take orders?” Ω

SACRAMENTO

2014 Walk Committee & Sponsors Nicole Carr, Desiree Higgins, Susan Damian, Tina Chiappetta, Wendy Maihack, Elena Michel, Eric Burger, Ariana Gomez, Stan Read

Like a duck in water Photo/Dennis Myers

The low level of the Truckee River may be an ominous portent for summer and for water supplies, but it didn’t disrupt the fun of crowds gathered here at the point where the river splits around Belle Isle in downtown Reno.

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Many gathered to mingle and discuss environmental issues and changes in South America and in Reno at the reception on May 29 at the Patagonia Service Center.

Work across continents

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Reno and the South American region Patagonia have quite the distance between them. Two global organizations with local units brought the two locales together to discuss their environmental programs present in the area. by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Patagonia, Inc. are partners in Sage Leehey programs in both Reno and Patagonia. On May 29, representatives from both s age l@ groups came together at the Patagonia Service Center in Reno for a reception news review.c om to talk about the programs going on in both regions. The project manager for the Patagonian Grasslands of Argentina and the Southern Andes Conservation Strategies Manager Carlos Fernández was in town for this reception, too. For the last three years, TNC, Patagonia, Inc. and a Patagonian sheep growers group Ovis XXI have been working on switching local sheep ranchers to sustainable grazing practices in order to save the grasslands of Patagonia. There are about 150 million acres in Patagonia—both in Argentina and Chilé—that are currently being used for sheep ranching. “The whole idea is to put, in the next 5 years, 15 million acres under sustainable grazing in order to halt or reverse the tendency of desertification,” Fernández said. “So it’s to avoid the Dust Bowl of the U.S. going and happening there and losing the soil, the coverage. The Nature Conservancy provides some of the science on the ground, Ovis XXI provides the implementation on the ground, and Patagonia has been our corporate partner that buys the wool from all the ranches that apply the standard.” Prior to this program, Patagonia, Inc. did not receive any wool from the actual location of Patagonia. But the company has pledged to purchase 100 percent of their wool from Patagonia in five years. “This is the first year that Patagonia has had their products [with wool to learn more about the Nature from the program] out,” Fernández said. “So, it started three years ago. This Conservancy, visit is the second year that Patagonia has been buying the wool, but it’s the first www.nature.org. year that their products can be purchased by people. And in fact, this coming August, it’s going to be the first time the products are coming to Argentina and Chile.” The grants manager of Patagonia, Inc. was also present at the reception and said the company works with TNC as a part of their mission. “The reason we’re in business is to build the best product, cause the least amount of environmental harm and to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis,” Hunter said. For the Reno portion of their work, clothing donations manager Kim Jardine Riley often schedules restoration days with local non-profit organizations, like TNC, for employees to volunteer at, too. They’ve done work at the McCarran Ranch Preserve and the Independence Lake Preserve recently. The company also donates one percent of their sales—approximately $6 million—each year in the form of grants and clothing donations to give back to the communities they work in. “What we’re trying to show other businesses … is that you can do the right thing and be profitable,” Hunter said. “They’re not mutually exclusive.” Ω OPINION

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ast year, in an article about tax credits for filmmakers, Tax Foundation vice president Joseph Henchman wrote that “not much film production” goes on in Nevada. Someone didn’t do his homework before setting pen to paper. North Dakota hasn’t got much film production. It appears to have gotten its first feature film, a Barbara Stanwyck movie titled The Purchase Price, in 1932. The total number has not yet reached 20. Nevada? Filmmaking began in 1897, and in 2000, Renoite Gary duVal wrote a book, The Nevada Filmography, that listed 600 movies made in the Silver State. Its location next to California has been a blessing when it came to attracting interest from Hollywood. For a long time, Hollywood found its own way to Nevada. Then in 1983, the Nevada Legislature enacted new economic development legislation at the recommendation of Gov. Richard Bryan, and one component of it was a film office that would become active in bringing Nevada to Hollywood. After that, the pace of Nevada movies accelerated, without tax incentives.

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In the 1990s, Hollywood started sniffing around state capitols looking for corporate welfare. Louisiana was the first state to offer incentives, in 1992. Once it took that fateful step, the industry could use it in bargaining with other states. Another three states bought in, but the growth of incentives was slow. By 2000, only four states offered them. 1999 was a particularly active year as some parts of the industry put on a heavy push for incentives that began to pay off in the decade ahead. Screen Actors Guild (SAG) president Richard Masur said, “Look, we saw this happen with semi-conductors. We saw this happen with the production of television sets and radio equipment, and we watch this country develop this stuff and then lose it all.” At a hearing in the California Legislature, SAG and the Directors Guild provided studies it had commissioned. Two bills—both sponsored by Democrats—were introduced, with one costume designer providing tearful testimony. A couple of months later, another industryfunded study claimed the United States lost 23,500 full time movie jobs in 1998. “We could very easily lose this industry,” Masur said. Oddly, Motion Picture Association of America lobbyist Jack Valenti said such industry hyperbole was foolish.

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“No,” he said.“Can’t be. … We’ve always produced abroad … but it’s never been a big deal.” The more states came on board, the easier it was for the industry to play them against each other—and against Canada, where the industry had won an 11 percent subsidy from the federal government and some provinces added another 11 percent. Movie producer Tom Brodak said that, in Canada, “For every three television movies [corporations] produce, they’re able to produce the fourth one for free.” Nevada had been jerked around like this long before. In 1935, Disney announced that because of a dispute with California, it was moving to Nevada. After Disney got what it wanted from the Golden State, the Silver State was left holding the bag. The approach works like this: In Connecticut in 2006, state lawmakers were told they needed a 25 percent investor tax credit and a 30 percent production company credit to become competitive with Rhode Island and Massachusetts—and with good old Louisiana. As state after state joined this trend, Nevada stayed clear.

“ready for my tax breaks”

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“Disappointment is too mild a word,” Las Vegas costume designer Diana Eden told the Las Vegas ReviewJournal. “We have to do something,” said lighting and grip rental company president James Reid. So the fight wasn’t over. The industry and vendors who serviced film shoots got ready for bear. A lobbyist was hired. A website was created (www.NevadaFilmIncentive. com) that observed—under the heading “Justification”—that “It has now reached a point where neighboring states are literally stealing jobs from each other through the film business.” Its solution: Reward that kind of activity by joining in. When the legislation came back in 2013, in the form of Senate Bill 165, its advocates were intent on victory. The business-friendly Republican Party that can be credited with the measure. Democratic fingerprints

Association lobbyist Carole Vilardo pointed out that the credits offered in the measure to the movie industry would pay for a 1 percent pay hike for state workers. s ta r s t r u C k In 1960, ABC deejay Dick Clark was hailed before the House Committee on Legislative Oversight to explain his payola activities. The committee had the goods on him, but his star power kicked in, and most of the members of the committee turned into fans on the spot. “Obviously you’re a fine young man,” U.S. Rep. Oren Harris (D-Arkansas) told Clark. “I don’t think you’re the inventor of the system. I think you’re the product.” It’s not an argument anyone ever made for John Dillinger (and the committee’s staff did lay out Clark’s

He didn’t need to beg. Between his star power and the pressure from the vendors, the outcome seemed predetermined. In that mysterious way some bills have of becoming unstoppable at the Nevada Legislature, this one was on a greased track. Vilardo said a “fast track” was functioning. “I got the feeling it’s like a steamroller, and it’s going to pass,” she said. She also noted something others had not, calling the language “open ended” on permissible exemptions. “Just try it” beat out “Just say no.” The Senate approved it on May 28 by a 13 to 8 vote and the Assembly followed suit six days later, 27 to 14. Gov. Brian Sandoval joined in by signing it, giving a nice bipartisan patina to the new law. In its final form, the program was cut from an absurd $50 million (half the size of California’s incentive program) to $20 million, and lawmakNEVADA FILM OFFICE PHOTO BY ROBIN HOLABIRD

CheCking the figures By 2010, 43 states were offering incentives. Then a backlash set in. States were being so heavily pressured by the industry that some began wondering whether it was worth it. Massachusetts did a study that found the overwhelming number of jobs generated by location shoots went to out-of-state workers. College of Charleston economic analyst Frank Hefner found that of each tax credit dollar offered by South Carolina, just 19 cents came back to the state. The Louisiana Legislature’s chief economist, Greg Albrecht, reported that incentives were likely costing the state millions more than it was generating. “Does [the state] receive more tax receipts back, either directly or indirectly, than what we’re paying out?” he wrote. “The answer is definitely no.” Meanwhile, critics of incentives were increasing. Economist Bob Tannenwald of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said “the revenue forgone via film tax credits has to be made up elsewhere, either in tax increases or spending cuts. Both depress the economy and cut off the incentive’s stimulus effect.” In California, there was evidence that the number of film jobs created after tax incentives were enacted declined. TV and film production jobs went from almost 123,000 in 2004 to 107,400 in 2012. The state’s legislative fiscal analyst reported twice—in 2010 and 2014—that incentives were of dubious value to the state. (It didn’t help that they may have fostered corruption. Sen. Ron Calderon, a Democrat from California’s 30th senate district, is under indictment for allegedly accepting money to try to expand the state’s movie incentive program to independent producers.) Soon legislatures were backing away from incentives. “Hollywood isn’t the catch it once was,” said Capitol Ideas, a magazine of the Council of State Governments. Noting that Alaska was phasing out its incentives, it went on, “Alaska isn’t alone. New Jersey shut down its $10 million program in 2010. Likewise for Washington, which opted to close its program this spring. Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas and Maine have all closed or suspended tax incentive programs for motion pictures since 2009. A number of other states are contemplating similar action.” It was then that Nevada decided to join in. After becoming one of the most successful location states without film incentives, state lawmakers decided to embrace them. In 2011, two measures—Assembly Bills 418 and 506—had been introduced. Both of them failed, and Las Vegas location vendors were upset.

A film crew works at Stead on Steal The Sky, a 1988 Mariel Hemingway movie.

were all over it. The sponsor was a Democratic senator. The Nevada Democratic Party sent out a mailing appealing for support for the movie corporations. The mailing featured a send-this-child-to-camp-style visual, a shot of actor Nicolas Cage with his hand on one cheek, his head tilted, surrounded by a blue frame with the headline “HELP US HELP NIC CAGE/SIGN THE PETITION.” (Someone in the legislative press room blew it up and posted it on the hallway window to alert passersby to the plight of the Hollywood studios.) Though less organized, opponents got ready, too. The Nevada Public Research Institute got hold of the Louisiana report dissing the value of tax credits for filmmakers and distributed it to Nevada’s lawmakers. Further discomfiting the supposedly worker-friendly, business-skeptical Democrats, Nevada Taxpayers

activities in devastating and seamy detail in the final committee report). That’s essentially what happened in Nevada in 2013. State lawmakers were bewitched when Cage came calling. “I have four scripts that could easily be shot in Nevada,” the actor told a legislative committee, adding, “Give me six months, and I’ll give you a list of names of folks who would love to come to Nevada to make a movie.” After the hearing, Cage told reporters incentives would also help tourism in the state. “People see a movie and want to go to the place it was shot,” he said. “That happened with the Lord of the Rings. Everyone went to New Zealand after that movie.” Cage, without really providing any evidence as substantive as the state studies, said incentives do work in Louisiana. “Just try it,” he begged Nevada’s leaders.

ers took Vilardo’s advice and put a time limit on it, at which point it will presumably be reassessed. It will be run by the state Office of Economic Development and operate until 2018, though unused credits will linger on until 2023. BlowBaCk Criticism of the new law was scorching. It came from left, right and center. And much of it was better informed than the legislators who voted for it. Nevada Policy Research Institute: “[The incentives] offer film producers a larger credit than they would actually owe in taxes. Producers could receive as much as 28 percent of their total filming costs through these credits—far in excess of their state tax liability. In other words, it would be a direct cash payment from taxpayers to wealthy film producers.”

Western Nevada College President Carol Lucey, who had been doing a slow burn over the legislature’s treatment of higher education, resigned in protest. “You know what the last straw was?” Lucey told reporter Geoff Dornan. “Them saying there’s no money left and then Nic Cage getting what he got.” Former state legislator Sheila Leslie wrote in these pages about a Reno mental health program, Mobile Outreach Safety Team (MOST), that was nearly wiped out by budget cuts. “The Legislature has choices to make,” Leslie wrote. “It can allocate $35 million a year in tax credits, for example, to Nicolas Cage’s filmmakers, a subsidy that hasn’t worked elsewhere, or it could invest that money to create MOST and other innovative mental health programs. ... I think the choice is pretty clear.” Joseph Henchman at the Tax Foundation quoted Cage’s New Zealand tourism comments, then observed, “That sounds nice of him, although he’s leaving out a key phrase: folks who would love to come to Nevada to make a movie if you make taxpayers to pay most of their costs. ... I’m also guessing there’s lots of Nevadans who would be eager to create jobs and produce more if the state lowered their taxes to do so. Unlike the film industry, they might even stay in Nevada when other states offered a better deal.” Columnist Andrew Barbano: “Senate Bill 165 was introduced by a bi-partisan pack of lawmakers who view it as a good idea even if it takes money from schools, roads, parks, police and fire protection. ... [T]rading a teacher or a cop for a short-term script girl or best-boy should present far better than a break-even proposition. Proponents admit that a lot of talent will have to be imported.” Columnist Jon Ralston: “This is how they do tax policy—a hodgepodge of giveaways and takeaways with no underlying rationale or overarching approach. ... We may get Cage ghost-riding on the Strip, with his production company soaring and a Vegas backdrop for movies. But what does it say if that fake scene is juxtaposed a few miles off-camera in either direction with real tableaus of packed emergency rooms, overcrowded classrooms and jammed thoroughfares?” The Columbia Journalism Review, which scrutinizes press practices and ethics, reported—in the course of faulting the poor press coverage of the Nevada legislation—that “readers could have gleaned no real idea as to whether the tax credits being proposed did or did not have a reasonable prospect of luring production facilities and longterm film industry jobs to Nevada. Also, the most thorough and in-depth

Nevada Policy research Institute coverage of the film tax break came after the relevant bill was signed into law.” The journal was right. Andrew Doughman of the Las Vegas Sun reported a feature of the new law that hadn’t gotten a lot of attention when it mattered: “For the first time in Nevada, movie companies that get tax discounts can sell those discounts to other companies. So a casino that has a big state tax bill can buy the credits from a film producer and get a tax break.” He quoted law professor Francine Lipman saying, “We’re giving them these credits effectively to use as coin of the realm.” Unfortunately, Doughman’s story ran on June 27—16 days after Sandoval signed the bill into law. There was news coverage of the industry studies given to legislators, but no coverage of criticism of those

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studies, such as the Tax Foundation’s view that they were “fanciful estimates of economic activity and tax revenue.” An Ernst and Young study supposedly showed that the benefits of state tax incentives for movie companies include higher employment. But the study was paid for by the Motion Picture Association of America and few journalists reported that other states had found that movie companies tend to bring their skilled workers with them. During hearings on the bill, producers said that a movie about Las Vegas was then being filmed in North Carolina and that the Dennis Quaid television series Vegas was filmed in New Mexico. No journalist pointed out that the reason the series was filmed in New Mexico—for its first episode, then later in its short life in Los Angeles—was not because

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A f t e r m At h It will be recalled that Cage said that in six months he would provide a list of people who want to film in Nevada. That list has not yet been provided, according to the Nevada Film Office. “I have not spoken to him specifically,” said its director, Eric Preiss. “I’ve heard things, but nothing that’s come to our office.” Nor has anything yet been heard of the four scripts Cage said he had in hand. But the program is still moving forward. “There’s actually been four productions that have been approved for incentives,” Preiss said. One is Mall Cop 2, a Sony

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production. A television pilot and two independent films have also been approved. In 2012, a New York Times survey reported that about $1.5 billion is being passed out to film companies in one form or another in the United States. A more recent report from the California legislative analyst put that at $1.4 billion just from 10 states. The number of states with incentive programs has slipped to 39 plus Puerto Rico, but some of those are no longer funded or have seen their funding reduced. In Maryland last month, the production company Media Rights Capital threatened to pull production of the Netflix series House of Cards out of the state unless the state ponied up $15 million. The legislature was willing to face them down, but the governor cut a deal for $4 million in incentives plus $7.5 million in grants. These days, California is experiencing the tax incentive dance, a pirouette that illustrates one of the risks of tax incentives, that beneficiaries often come back for more. The Golden State’s already existing $100 million annual fund for incentives is expected to be empty by June next year, so Hollywood came back asking for more. The measure passed on May 23, and the Hollywood Reporter

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of tax incentives but because it was set in the 1960s and the real Las Vegas didn’t look the part anymore. Nor did any reporter point out that Nevada, in turn, has played the role of places like Alaska, Arizona, various California places, Camp David, Canada, Colombia, Colorado, ancient Earth, future Earth, Galilee, Germany, Kentucky, Loch Ness, Maine, Mars, Mexico, Mongolia, New York, Seattle, Texas, Utah and Viridian 3— without incentives to make it happen. There was, in other words, an awful lot the public and legislators didn’t know at the time.

Actor Joe Mantegna gestures during a discussion with director David Mamet on the set of 1988's Things Change at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.

predicts “the current $100 million [will] at least quadruple to the level of New York State, which is around $435 million a year.” Gov. Jerry Brown has not said whether he will approve it. The bill was sponsored by two Democratic legislators, and one of them—Raul Bocanegra—revived Masur’s sales pitch from 15 years ago, telling the New York Times, “There was a time when we actually made things. … Now, we make films here. If we’re not careful, we will lose it.” As other states reevaluate, Nevada moves ahead, effectively pouring its scarce cash into distant pockets. Ω

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The dormant Lear Theater was once a church.

he sentiment may be naïve, but its optimism is appealing: that our lives can be improved simply by having the right ideas and sharing them with others. It places so much faith in human rationality, rather than defeatedly admitting many things are outside the control of human cognition—large economic systems, dumb luck, weather patterns. TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design), famous for its 18-minutes-or-less lectures, on an endless variety of topics, is based on the simple premise that ideas matter. According to their online mission statement: “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world.” The popularity of these TED Talks has led to franchising: TEDx. A TEDx event is simply a TED style event, independently organized,

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but approved and licensed by the TED national organization. On June 6, TEDx Reno, featuring over 20 speakers, will be the first major event held in the Lear Theater in over a decade. There is a certain irony in this pairing of event and venue. The Lear Theater has been plagued with misfortune ever since the attempt was first made to convert the old church into a theater: cost overruns, managerial disputes. All of the nuts and bolts problems any old building has. So, intellectual idealists: meet bad plumbing. The Lear Theater was built in the late ’30s as the home for Reno’s Christian Scientist congregation. The architect who designed it was Paul Revere Williams. He is noted as being the first black architect admitted to the American Institute of Architecture. Based in Southern California, he designed high profile corporate and government buildings. He was on the design team

for LAX. He designed the MCA building. But primarily he designed residential buildings. He developed a reputation as “architect to the stars,” designing homes for Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball, Lon Chaney and others. But not all Williams structures are in Southern California, and Reno boasts a few Williams designs: the Garvey house on California Street, the Loomis Apartment Building, and the El Reno Apartments—ultra-modern, at the time, steel modular homes. The Christian Scientists moved out after more than 50 years in the Williams-designed building. Then, the daughter of a successful entertainer and widow of an industrialist had the idea to convert the church into a theater. After Bill Lear died in 1978—he was famous for inventing the Lear Jet and 8-track tape—his widow Moya ran the corporation.

In the late ’90s, a few years after the Christian Scientist congregation moved out, Moya Lear put up over a million dollars of her tech money, on the condition her contribution be matched, to purchase the building. The venue hosted performances in 2001 and 2002, then the site was shuttered, the renovations left unfinished. In 2011, the Reno GazetteJournal reported the project had consumed $4.7 million more than the $3 million estimate, with a possible $12 million in expenses remaining. Many believed the managing Theater Coalition was focusing too much on using the venue for touring theater companies. Investors were angry at the management. Performing arts groups were alienated. Lear did not see any of this since she died in 2001.

Community theater Management of the theater has passed to Artown. The organization is now attempting to complete the restoration.

“We are at the stage where we are trying to establish if there is an investor’s desire to invest in this building,” said Artown executive director Beth Macmillan. Macmillan also wants the future of the theater to better align with what she said was Lear’s vision. “Moya Lear had wanted a community center,” she said. That would be a medium size performance space, available to host local arts events. Macmillan said the funding to keep the theater operating will come from rental fees paid by the performers. And who will these performers be? The space can host anything, according to Macmillan. “It’s good for music. It’s good for dance. It’s good for speaking engagements. It’s good for children’s recitals.” Hypothetically, it is. But currently the stage is unfinished, and the building’s electrical system can, at best, power a few light bulbs. It’s far from capable of running

a professional sound system. The electrical system is one of the reasons the church moved out of the building nearly 20 years ago. For the TEDx event, organizers will be bringing a generator. Beyond that, only minor improvements have been made to the venue: a little paint touch-up, and the restoration and reinstallation of the building’s original pews. “We’re trying to keep it relatively bare bones, just to show people there is still a lot of work to be done in here,” said Meghan Pescio, co-organizer of the TEDx event. In that sense, the venue, which Pescio hopes will be the permanent home for the annual, now in its second year, event, is part of the presentation. “Our goal with TEDx is not only during the time of the event to be

would be the event’s theme: urban development. TEDx events are not simply TED-like presentations organized by whomever. There are actually strict guidelines and a lengthy licensing process. The applications for TEDx Reno were repeatedly rejected, the urban development subject being dismissed as too narrow. “We kept getting shot down, over, and over, and over again,” said Tony Gallian, who along with his friends Geoff Deal, Lance King and Rory O’Brien applied for the TEDx license. Finally the group proposed the theme, Biggest Little Citizen. Gallian explained the meaning: “A lot of the time people get bogged down in their everyday careers and jobs and lives and they may have an idea—something they’d like to see happen but

Geoff Deal, Geno Pescio and Meghan Pescio are working on a program in the unfinished Lear Theater.

spreading big ideas, but we wanted to have a big idea of our own,” said Pescio. “Something we could do as a group that we thought would get people thinking about the arts and culture community downtown. So having the event here in the Lear Theater was what we thought might be that big idea. And let people see—what if this wasn’t just sitting here not being used? What if it were built and came to its fruition and it was that community theater everyone envisioned in the ’90s?” This intersection of idea and venue has a serendipitous correlation to what the organizer of TEDx Reno hope OPINION

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you don’t think you have a say or a voice or enough power to see that change through.” “It takes one person and one idea to change a community or change the globe,” said Gallian. Possibly. But changing the Lear Theater has taken dozens of people, some now dead, and millions of dollars. To finish the job will take dozens more people and millions more dollars. And a lot of ideas. And a lot of luck. Ω

90 Auto Center Dr.

For more information, visit www.tedxreno.com.

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In an instant

Anne Kernecker, Chelsie Rose and Natalie Handler are the organizers of the Reno InstaGrammys (@renoinstagrammys).

Reno InstaGrammys Mobile photography and videography has permeated popular culture and changed the way people by document their lives. Smartphones are now Ashley used to capture everything from political Hennefer protests and global events to the food eaten for lunch or a quick self-portrait—“selfie”— in the mirror. It’s now considered a full-fledged art form and a subset of photography, which means it’s also earned its own award shows. Reno’s own mobile photography awards started off as a joke at a barbecue. It quickly became a full-fledged event when founders Chelsie Rose, Natalie Handler and Anne Kernecker thought it could be an engaging activity for Renoites. for more information, So they started the inaugural Reno visit facebook.com/ InstaGrammys, a photo and video contest renoinstagrammys. where participants use photo social network submissions close on app Instagram to document Reno. July 7, and the award show is on Aug. 9 at Instagram, with its square photo size the southside Cultural and many filters, turns mundane images Center. into share-worthy pieces of art. And while there was some skepticism in the art world about the medium, many professional photographers take it seriously—a common

sentiment online on photography forums is, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” Former RN&R photographer Lauren Randolph, now a prolific L.A.-based artist, speaks often about the benefits of mobile photography. Her Instagram account (username @laurenlemon) has more than 220,000 followers, and she’s held gallery shows just using photos from her iPhone. The InstaGrammys are intended to make Renoites more alert to the detail of the city, and to document it in creative ways. Instagram is a free app for anyone with a smartphone, which makes it an “accessible medium,” according to Handler. Participants enter the contest by sharing their photos on Facebook. The contest ends July 7. A panel of four judges will sift through the entries. The Aug. 9 awards will be a formal event—“a mix of the MTV music awards and the Grammys,” says Rose. “We want it to be hip and fun.” The event is a fundraiser for the Holland Project. Weekly challenges lead up to the event—like #albumcover—and there are 20 categories for the main contest. Categories

include “chasing light,” “dance video,” “outdoor adventure” and “liquid landscape,” just to name a few. A full list can be found on their Facebook page. The categories are open for interpretation; for instance, for the “urban landscape” category, artist Bogdan Goldin (@bogdangoldin) posted a photo of a rainy window in focus with Reno’s nighttime skyline blurred in the background. “The reason I enjoy Instagram is because its constrained visual environment actually inspires a lot of creativity,” says Reno musician Evynn Tyler. Tyler, who uses the stage name Franc Friday, has amassed more than 47,000 followers on his Instagram account (@

francfriday). His feed features a mix of selfies, screen caps of quotes or other artwork, and snapshots of his friends around Reno. Like many social networks, Instagram and similar services are a peek into a person’s life. Some artists take a more creative approach, using it as a platform to share their art, whether that’s visual or audio. Tyler shares short snippets of his music using Instagram’s video features. “It’s a good resource for creative photography, but it’s more than that,” he says. “It often gives us a chance to look into the people behind the lens without feeling intrusive.” This is a selling point for using it for a community project, says Rose—a chance to share in a comfortable, but public, space. “The art community can be kind of exclusive and intimidating. This is a way for people to share what they love about Reno.” Ω

Erik Holland for Reno Mayor -I am Erik Holland and I want to be Reno's next mayor. My college degree is in history, but I have been a working artist since 1994. I am also an art educator at Rainshadow High School. I will approach my role as mayor as I do a painting, with a clear vision, balance, and consideration for every part of the community. My vision for Reno includes directing growth towards the urban core and away from the fringes, more solar panels on rooftops, and better public transportation. We can have a vibrant, revitalized downtown area that attracts visitors and residents alike! I would appreciate your vote on June 10th! -The City is in a compromised financial position. There are many reasons for this, including overspending, the state's archaic tax structure, the Great Recession, and obligations to retirees. However, we can recover. The cornerstone of my mayoral strategy will be to strategically forge ahead with a smart growth strategy that will lead to economic vitality. Growth should be directed towards the urban cores, and away from the

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fringes. The sprawl of the past is archaic and must cease. I would encourage, for example, a mixed use development at the former Park Lane Mall site. This sort of development returns far more in tax dollars per acre than tract homes on the fringes. -Improve public transportation and invest in alternative energy technology for our city. There should be NO built up part of our area that is not connected by public transportation.. We also should make far better use of solar energy in this area. Although there are currently programs through Nevada Energy that support alternate forms of energy, they seem diffused. I advocate directing the funding towards sollar panels on roofs and making it easier for homeowners to cover that initial investment. Let's make Reno the most energy-efficient city in the country! Vote June 10th! Thank you, Reno News & Review for your endorsement!

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Get baked Rounds Bakery 294 E. Moana Lane, 329-0800 When new owners Anton Novak and Sean Cary took over this established bakehouse in March, they popped their ovens by Dave Preston into bakezilla mode. Hybrid pastries like the Cronut—half croissant, half doughnut—and a cookie crawler, a square, chocolate covered doughnut, complete with gummy worm, are the new dimensions of Rounds. Bearing the looks of a doughnut and the inner workings of a croissant, the cronut is a confectionary hybrid that has become a near-global sensation since its creator, Dominique Ansel, debuted it at his New York City pastry shop about a year ago. This is the only place in town I know serving that trendy Manhattan marvel. Photo/ALLison Young

Owner Sean Cary behind the counter at Rounds, which has a variety of bagels and baked goods.

For more information, visit www.rounds bakery.com.

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JUNE 5, 2014

I had to go right for the cronut ($3-$4.25), and went with the triple dark chocolate with mini chocolate cookies, raspberry filling drizzled with granche and sprinkled with Mexican chocolate powder and cinnamon. It’s dense and very rich with the top of your mouth experiencing the flaky croissant and the bottom filling with the doughnut texture. The flavors are what you would imagine with the berry and chocolate mating perfectly with the pastry giving you a mouth-full of palate nirvana. Other flavors available the day I visited were strawberry white chocolate and sweet coconut, dulce de leche with bacon, and berry lemon basil cream with fresh strawberry, blueberry, blackberry and raspberry atop and then glazed. They also offer a dozen or so classic doughnuts ($1-$2.75) for those not so adventurous.

There are fifteen varieties of bagels ($1.29 each, or a baker’s dozen, $10.49) and eight smears from plain cream cheese to Sriracha, a Thai hot sauce with mild heat. They offer “New York” style bagels, referring to a boiling process before baking. The boiling process yields a harder exterior shell, while keeping the inside chewy. A couple of new varieties added were rye and sourdough. There are nice breakfast ($2.49$4.99) and lunch ($5.99-$7.69) menus using bagels as the sandwich’s foundation. For breakfast, you can choose anything from peanut butter and jam ($2.49) to a classic egg, cheese with ham, bacon or sausage ($4.99). The lunch offerings are more diverse. There’s the ultimate veggie ($5.99), with fresh cucumbers, ripe avocado, pine nuts, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and black olives on a bagel of your choice. Carnivores are welcome with the Reno dip ($5.99), hot roast beef, melted cheddar cheese, and red onions on a choice of bagel. For the very traditional, lox ($7.69-open faced add $1.50) wild smoked salmon, capers, tomatoes and red onions on your choice of bagel with cream cheese. I found their rye bagel most excellent and went with the Tahoe cado ($6.49) roasted turkey, crisp bacon, and ripe avocado and added a jalapeño artichoke smear. Everything was fresh and from the savory to the tangy to the spicy, sandwiched together with the light malty flavor of the bagel and a hint of tart from the baked in caraway seeds in the bagel, this nosh really came together with very satisfying flavors. Reno’s Hub coffee creates the specialty drink offerings ($3.59$4.79), and that includes Monkey Mocha, Almond Joy, and the usual espresso ($1.59-$4.59). There’s a big selection of all natural fruit smoothies ($2.69-$3.69), frappes ($2.99-$3.99), bottled waters, juice and select sodas ($2-$2.50). Icky in the bottle ($4) and a Freixenet split Cava Spanish sparkling wine ($9). A visit here is a “what-the-hellmoment,” where you’ll leave with a full belly and a warm heart. As Ben Franklin said, “everything in moderation, nothing in excess”; but then again, he never had a cronut. Ω

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Boring saddles

A Million Ways to Die in the West Well … shucks, nothing cinematically sucks more than a comedy that makes you yawn. A Million Ways to Die in the West will wind up being one of the summer movie season’s biggest bummers. Seth MacFarlane’s second feature directorial effort after the breezy and hilarious Ted is a lumbering, only sporadically funny enterprise. It’s not awful, and it does by have its share of giggles, but it can’t be clasBob Grimm sified as anything near a good movie. That’s a kick in the balls, because some bgrimm@ newsreview.c om slicker editing and “Whoa, Nellie!” pulling back on the gross-out reins could’ve kept this thing closer to 90 minutes, instead of nearly two hours, and gotten rid of the moments that go too far in a bad way. Like Mel Brooks before him with the classic Blazing Saddles, MacFarlane tries to make a satiric Western that really looks and feels like a Western. He gets the shots

“We’re in deep sheep now!”

1 Poor

2 Fair

3 Good

4 Very Good

right via decent cinematography, but his tempo is way off. While Blazing Saddles had the exuberance of a grand Western, MacFarlane’s dependence on comic violence and often slow pacing feels like he’s trying to make something like Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven in a funny way. It just doesn’t work. MacFarlane plays Albert, a snarky, ahead-of-his-time sarcastic guy trying to survive in the great American West. He’s trying to make a go of it as a sheep farmer, but he’s terrible at it. (One of his animals constantly winds up on his roof.) He’s always getting into trouble with his wise mouth, and his inability to stand up for himself in manly gunfights has earned the ire of his girlfriend, Louise (Amanda Seyfried).

excellent

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After getting dumped, Albert is determined to win Louise back. Enter town newcomer Anna (a stunningly sweet Charlize Theron), who befriends Albert, tutoring him in the ways of women. She also must show Albert how to shoot a gun after his ill advised challenging of the evil Foy (Neil Patrick Harris), Louise’s extravagantly mustachioed and arrogant new beau, to a gunfight. Instead of going for something goofy with the Albert and Anna relationship, MacFarlane plays things totally straight and tries to make their budding romance “real.” This sort of thing is totally not at home in a movie like this. And, let’s face it, MacFarlane has his charms, but he doesn’t make for a likely romantic partner for Theron. They look unintentionally funny together, like Peter Brady trying to kiss Marilyn Monroe. Liam Neeson appears in the thankless role of Clinch, resident killer and husband to Anna, unbeknownst to Albert. Neeson sneers his way through his role with nothing altogether funny to do, unless you regard the sight of him having a daisy shoved in his butt as funny. A subplot involving a hooker (Sarah Silverman) and her virgin boyfriend (Giovanni Ribisi) is full of jokes too obvious and old for the actors to rise above the material, although they try hard. I did like the moment where Ribisi referenced his deranged dance moves from Ted. MacFarlane overindulges, dragging out some gags way too long. For example, Neil Patrick Harris crapping in hats after ingesting laxative powder is kind of funny. Seeing the results of his accident spill out of the hat is a little much. As for the violence, the first few violent deaths get a laugh, but they grow tiresome fast. So, MacFarlane’s attempt to emulate Mel Brooks has fallen flat. He has Ted 2 on the boards as a producing effort. He should just go ahead and direct, returning himself to familiar territories and recalibrating. If he were to, say, announce a Frankenstein or Robin Hood spoof in the near future, that would be a bad sign. Ω

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Director Marc Webb mucks it up big time with this, his second go-round featuring Andrew Garfield in spandex, cracking wise and shooting webs. While Webb proves himself adept at drama and romance—Garfield and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy are kind of adorable—he botches the action elements and tries to juggle too many villains. This movie features a goofy villain called Electro (Jamie Foxx), the Green Goblin (Dane Dehaan) and the robotic Rhino (Paul Giamatti). Electro gets the majority of the villain screen time, an unfortunate circumstance given that his baddie is the least interesting of the three. DeHaan, an actor I can safely say I can’t stand, makes one really, really miss James Franco as Harry Osborn. DeHaan always speaks as if he just digs his own voice, even if it sounds like he has a sinus infection. His generally annoying presence isn’t the total blame for this film’s mishandling of the Green Goblin. The blame mostly lies with Webb and his makeup folks, who come up with something tragically bad for Goblin’s looks. He basically has oily hair that looks like he hasn’t showered in a while and a horrific combination skin problem. Too many villains, hackneyed action, and DeHaan make this a pretty bad time for comic book fans.

Blended

Maybe I’m crazy, but there is still part of me that believes Adam Sandler will wake up one day and proclaim, in his Sandler angry voice, “Alright already, enough with keeping my no-talent friends working and employed. I can just give them money. It’s time to make decent, funny movies again! Stay home Dennis Dugan! Screw you Frank Coraci! Maybe Paul Thomas Anderson will put me in a movie again? Flibberdy-Doo!” Sandler’s latest collaboration with director Coraci, who actually made some of the better Sandler films back in the day with The Waterboy and The Wedding Singer, just might be Sandler’s worst movie yet, and that’s saying a lot. He plays a widower who has a terrible first date with a woman (Drew Barrymore) at Hooters. One thing leads to another, and the two wind up on a vacation together in Africa with all of their kids. (You read that right.) This leads to rhino-humping jokes, ostrich riding and Terry Crews making an ass of himself. I had a real bad time with this thing. It caused major, jaw-clenching tension, and I think I may’ve cracked a molar. It’s the sort of racist and sexist movie that you watch in complete disbelief, wondering how such a monstrosity could ever get past the “Hey, why don’t we send Adam and Drew to Africa. It’ll be so funny!” stage. Everybody involved should be embarrassed about this.

Godzilla

This movie tramples the other Godzilla movies underfoot like Godzilla trampling a water tower with cheesy dolls meant to be humans hanging on it. Director Gareth Edwards captures that summer blockbuster vibe of yesteryear, when building suspense and perhaps just a touch of human drama took precedent over wall-to-wall CGI fireworks. He also manages to capture some of that old school Toho Godzilla goofiness to go with the film’s mostly serious tone. Even though this film’s Godzilla is CGI, there are some monster gestures that have a nice man-in-suit quality to them. It’s pretty obvious that Edwards is saluting the all time blockbuster king, Mr. Steven Spielberg, with this movie. Bryan Cranston and Aaron TaylorJohnson play a father and son team with a last name of Brody, just like Roy Scheider’s character in Jaws. Many of the initial Godzilla shots include glimpses of those jagged Godzilla back points cutting through the surface of the ocean like a shark’s dorsal fin. Cranston’s slightly crazed, obsessed, gloriously overacting scientist dad rings of Richard Dreyfuss’s mashed potato sculpting kook in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Everything builds up to a huge fight between Godzilla and some other monsters in San Francisco, and the city takes a major ass kicking. This is bound to be one of the summer movie season’s more exciting movies, and it beckons to be seen on an IMAX screen. When Godzilla roars, it peels the skin off of your face.

Maleficent

Neighbors

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Angelina Jolie plays the title character, the infamous horned villain from Sleeping Beauty. There’s a little bit of revisionist history here, with Maleficent portrayed as more of a fallen angel rather than a straight up baddie. The whole thing almost works because Jolie is damned good in this film, especially when the script allows for her to bellow curses and just act devilish. It gets a little sleepy at times when it deals with, well, Sleeping Beauty (Elle Fanning), the young woman who stands to have a very bad 16th birthday thanks to a Maleficent curse. Jolie has a creepy getup that I thought would bother me, but I kind of liked looking at it after a while. It’s the world surrounding her that I found a bit pedestrian. Director Robert Stromberg worked as a production designer on films like Alice in Wonderland, Avatar and Oz the Great and Powerful. I didn’t like any of those movies and, in the end, I don’t really like this one. At this point in watching Stromberg’s work, I’m just not taken by his weird visual worlds. They put me off for some reason, and have a choppy pop-up book feel to them. On the plus side, it is better than Alice and Oz, and perhaps even Avatar. On the negative side, it’s still not all that good.

Mac and Kelly (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne), are happily adjusting to their new roles as parents to a baby daughter in a quiet suburban neighborhood. While in the midst of adjusting to their new sleep and sex schedules, a fraternity moves in next door. They don’t panic, figuring they are still cool enough to get along with college kids. An initial meeting with frat president Teddy (Zac Efron) goes well, and they even wind up joining the fray, baby monitor in hand, for a drugged-out, booze-drenched party, further establishing themselves as those possibly cool neighbors who just might be able to handle a party house next door. Mac and Teddy even develop a brotherly camaraderie, suggesting that if Mac were just a few years younger, he might’ve been a worthy frat brother. They even talk about getting walkie-talkies to communicate between their houses. They bond. The honeymoon doesn’t last for long. When a weeknight party keeps the baby up, Mac and Kelly transform from party happy neighbors into sleep-deprived malcontents, and they call the cops. Teddy takes this as a stab in the back from his new friends, and all out war is waged. There will be no walkie-talkies for Mac and Teddy. Rogen, Efron and Byrne are hilarious here, in a movie that has some great new jokes, along with making some old jokes funny again. Dave Franco and Lisa Kudrow get good laughs in supporting roles.

Director Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men franchise with this ingenious chapter that includes both the main X-Men casts, time travel and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine holding everything together. The movie starts in the future, where robotic monsters called the Sentinels are giving the Mutants a truly hard time in a post-apocalyptic world. All hope seems to be lost until Charles Xavier/ Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and his crew figure out a way to time travel. The hope is to cease the production of the Sentinels, which were created by Dr. Bolivar Trask (the always excellent Peter Dinklage) and take Raven/ Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) off a dangerous destructive path. Jackman’s Logan makes the trip the 1970s, where he wears a cool leather coat and still has bone claws. The action is terrific, especially in a sequence where Peter/ Quicksilver (Evan Peters) foils a gun attack, and another where young Magneto (Michael Fassbender) uses an entire baseball stadium for nefarious purposes. The cast’s true standout would be James McAvoy as young Charles, still messed up after the events of X-Men: First Class. He adds a truly dramatic dimension to the proceedings. Having Singer back proves to be a good thing. The franchise surely suits his talents.

A mighty roar Half A Tusk Imagine hiking in the woods when an elephant bursts out of the foliage. As it trumpets forth a mighty roar, it appears by Kent Irwin that one of its tusks has been broken off. This is a beast to be feared, because it’s seen immense brutality, but has survived with enough strength to crush you underfoot. True to its name, Half A Tusk is a fragmented band. They’ve cycled through their fair share of members, many of whom left the band on rocky terms.

Photo/Kent IrwIn

of motifs and themes. A song may come out of the gates with twin guitar melodies, then burst into an assault of double-bass, chugging riffs, and Vargas’ primal growl. Then it could suddenly shift into flamencotinged scales on classical guitar. One thing that’s guaranteed is, once a piece has ended, it’s left its listeners in an entirely different place. In addition to metal influences, Half A Tusk are vocal about their reverence for other genres, such as jazz, classical, Indian music and Spanish flamenco. Vargas may not claim to be the Dalai Lama, but he and Acavedo do find inspiration in eastern religion and philosophy. The name Half A Tusk is a nod to the Indian god Ganesha, often portrayed as a man-elephant hybrid. As their interest in Hinduism might suggest, it is fitting that the music is so polytheistic in its range of influences. The exotic spices in Half A Tusk make for a unique sound, but don’t necessarily help the band find a ready-made crowd of devoted followers. “We’re just waiting for the right ear to hear us,” says Vargas. If Half A Tusk is intimidated by breaching the established metal crowd and forming their own audience, it doesn’t show. When asked about performing, their faces light up. “We go to see some of our favorite bands, and we have the time of our lives,” says Acevedo. “When we see the crowd reacting to us as we do to our idols, it’s intoxicating.” “A good show is the best feeling ever, second maybe to sex,” says Vargas. Playing live has been tough, providing the band with a fried engine on the way back from out of town and countless broken equipment. On top of it all, the band’s cerebral edge doesn’t mean the shows don’t get bloody. A degree of violence is expected in metal, but on at least one occasion it got out of control. They’ve taken a lot of blows, to be sure, but Half A Tusk are adamant about stampeding forward. “We’re ready to unite and conquer,” says Vargas. Ω

“I’m no Buddhist,” says vocalist Mike Vargas. “I try not to hold grudges. But it almost came to blows at times.” “Shit has to get bad to get better,” adds guitarist Hector Acavedo. The four-piece outfit includes guitarists Acavedo and Vargas, a drummer–Marc Moxley–and a bass player–Daniel Williams. Prior to Moxley and Williams, the band cycled through a handful of drummers and bassists. “We’ve had to retrace our steps and teach everyone the songs again,” says Acevedo. “It’s forced us into learning patience.” With Moxley and Williams aboard, things began to pick up speed. In addition to holding the drum throne, Moxley has also written a share of lyrics on the band’s recently recorded album, Daedalus Design. The band’s debut is a five track excursion through a wilderness of crushing death metal riffs, eastern scales and labyrinthian song structures. Half A Tusk songs are linear in nature, not cyclical. They begin with a set of riffs, but constantly charge forward through a shifting landscape

Marc Moxley, Mike Vargas and Hector Acavedo are survivors of Half A Tusk's revolving door.

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

OPINION

NEWS

GREEN

FEATURE STORY

ARTS&CULTURE

ART OF THE STATE

FOODFINDS

FILM

MUSICBEAT

NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

THIS WEEK

MISCELLANY

JUNE 5, 2014

RN&R

THURSDAY 6/5 3RD STREET

FRIDAY 6/6

SATURDAY 6/7

SUNDAY 6/8

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

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

5 STAR SALOON

Karaoke, 10pm, no cover

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

THE ALLEY

CHYI, 8pm, $13-$16

Kurt Travis, Zachary Garren, 7:30pm, $10-$12

Angerhead, 8:30pm, $8-$10

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

DG Kicks, 9pm, Tu, no cover Open Mic w/Steve Elegant, 7pm, Tu, no cover Karaoke, 10pm, Tu, W, no cover

BAR-M-BAR

Monday Night Open Mic, 8pm, M, no cover

816 Highway 40 West, Verdi; (775) 351-3206

BT June 6, 9 p.m. Knitting Factory 211 N. Virginia St. 323-5648

CARGO AT WHITNEY PEAK HOTEL

Crash Kings, 9pm, $5

CBQ

Rebekah Chase, 9pm, no cover

255 N. Virginia St., (775) 398-5400

1330 Scheels Dr., Sparks; (775) 359-1109

CEOL IRISH PUB

Pub Quiz Trivia Night, 8pm, no cover

CHAPEL TAVERN

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

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

Comedy

The Improv at Harveys Cabaret, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Stateline, (800) 553-1022: Bret Ernst, Gilbert Lawand, Th, Th-F, Su, 9pm, $25; Sa, 8pm, 10pm, $30, Henry Phillips, Quinn Dahle, W, 9pm, $25 Reno-Tahoe Comedy at Pioneer Underground, 100 S. Virginia St., 686-6600: JP Connolly; F, 6:30pm; Sa, 6:30pm, 9:30pm, $15, $18, The Utility Players, F, 9:30pm, $14, $17

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

RN&R

| JUNE 5, 2014

Kelly Ann Miller, 6pm, no cover

Jimmy Ashley, 6pm, no cover

DAVID’S GRILL

Mark Castro Band, 6pm, no cover

DAVIDSON’S DISTILLERY

9below0, 9:30pm, no cover

6590 N. Wingfield Pkwy., Sparks; (775) 626-1000 275 E. Fourth St., (775) 324-1917

EL CORTEZ LOUNGE

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

Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover

FUEGO

THE GOLDEN ROSE CAFE AT WILDFLOWER VILLAGE 4395 W. Fourth St., (775) 747-8848

GREAT BASIN BREWING CO.

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

HARRY’S SPORTS BAR & GRILL

Traditional Irish Tune Session, 7pm, Tu, no cover

CW and Mr. Spoons, noon, M, no cover Mile High Jazz Band, 8pm, Tu, $5

Ian McFeron & Alisa Milner, 6pm, no cover

Karaoke w/Nitesong Productions, 9pm, Tu, Open Mic/Ladies Night, 8:30pm, W, no cover

Takedown, 9:30pm, no cover

Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover

Karaoke w/Lisa Lisa, 9pm, M, W, no cover Karaoke w/Miss Sophie, 9pm, Tu, no cover

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

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

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

Good Friday with rotating DJs, 10pm, no cover

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

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

Catch a Rising Star, Silver Legacy, 407 N. Virginia St., 329-4777: Sean O’Connor, Th, Su, 7:30pm, $15.95; F, 7:30pm, 10pm, $15.95; Sa, 7:30pm, 10pm, $17.95; Corey Rodrigues, Tu-W, 7:30pm, $15.95

James Wilsey Jr., 9pm, no cover

COMMA COFFEE

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

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 6/9-6/11

Mustache Kitty, 9:30pm, no cover

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

Reno Music Project Open Mic, 6:30pm, no cover Chris Miles, 8pm, no cover

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

Mary Anne Novello Stefani Cancer Fundraiser, 1pm, donation Open mic, 7pm, no cover

THURSDAY 6/5

FRIDAY 6/6

SATURDAY 6/7

SUNDAY 6/8

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 6/9-6/11

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

Love Like Wes, Foos, 8pm, $5

140 Vesta St., (775) 742-1858

Album-Inspired Fashion Show, 8pm, $10

Stalins of Sound, Alphabet Cult, Na Na Nonchalant, 8pm, Tu, $5

JAVA JUNGLE

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

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

JAZZ, A LOUISIANA KITCHEN

First Take featuring Rick Metz, 6pm, no cover

Erika Paul, 6pm, no cover

1180 Scheels Dr., Sparks; (775) 657-8659

JUB JUB’S THIRST PARLOR

1) Up Is the Down Is The, Sit Kitty Sit, The Volery, Wheatstone Bridge, 7:30pm, $5

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

Kurt Travis

Bill Davis, 6pm, no cover 1) The Cold Hard Cash Show: Johnny Cash Tribute, 6:30pm, $8-$12

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

BT, Zach Rawlinson, Jami Deep, Jeremy Curl, 9pm, $18-$50

Blackalicious, The Halve Two, The City Dwellaz, 8:30pm, $18-$35

MOODY’S BISTRO BAR & BEATS

Steve LaBella Group, 8:30pm, no cover

George Souza Trio, 8:30pm, no cover

THE POINT NITE CLUB

Karaoke w/Gina Jones & Haas, 9pm, no cover

Gemini, 9pm, no cover

10007 Bridge St., Truckee; (530) 587-8688 1601 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-3001

POLO LOUNGE

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

2) Sisters Doom, Demon Lung, Wounded Giant, Countress, 8:30pm, $5

Darcy & Paul, 7pm, W, no cover

RYAN’S SALOON

Live jazz, 7:30pm, W, no cover

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

SE7EN TEAHOUSE/BAR

Bluegrass/Americana Open Performance Jam, 7pm, no cover

148 West St., (775) 284-3363

SHEA’S TAVERN

715 S. Virginia St., (775) 786-4774

Elephant Rifle, Kowloon Walled City, Countress, 9pm, no cover

ST. JAMES INFIRMARY

Dance party, 9pm, no cover

445 California Ave., (775) 657-8484

STUDIO ON 4TH

EveryThing Hard EDM w/Gjestar, Redundant Protoplasm, others, 8pm, $5

432 E. Fourth St., (775) 410-5993

VASSAR LOUNGE

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine Tuesday Night Trivia, 8pm, Tu, no cover

Ritual (’80s post-punk, industrial, goth), 9pm, $3 before 10pm, $5 after Karaoke w/Rock N’J Entertainment, 8pm, no cover

1545 Vassar St., (775) 348-7197

Koolwater Karaoke, 7pm, W, no cover

WHISKEY DICK’S SALOON WILD RIVER GRILLE

Carolyn Dolan, 6pm, no cover

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

Milton Merlos, 6pm, no cover

Erika Paul Carlson, 2pm, Tany Jane, 6pm, no cover

Tyler Stafford, 6pm, no cover

Tyler Stafford, 6pm, Tu, Verbal Kint, 6pm, W, no cover

Think

SIMPLY SEAFOOD

Free

the way mother nature intended

- for 36 years -

1555 S. Wells Ave. Reno, NV www.Rapscallion.com

Exhibit Ends Sunday June 8th

775-323-1211 • 1-877-932-3700 Open Monday - Friday at 11:30am Saturday at 5pm Check in on Facebook with your mobile device and get a FREE 13 13 glass of house wine

NEWS

GREEN

June 8, 8 p.m. Whiskey Dick’s Saloon 2660 Lake Tahoe Blvd. South Lake Tahoe (530) 544-3425

Jello Biafra & Guantanamo School of Medicine, Ninja Slaughterhouse, Elephant Rifle, 8pm, $15

2660 Lake Tahoe Blvd., S. Lake Tahoe; (530) 544-3425

OPINION

June 6, 7:30 p.m. The Alley 906 Victorian Ave. Sparks 358-8891

1) Blazin Mics!, 10pm, M, no cover

FEATURE STORY

ARTS&CULTURE

IN ROTATION

ART OF THE STATE

’13

FOODFINDS13 |

FILM

MUSICBEAT 13

NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

THIS WEEK

MISCELLANY

JUNE 5, 2014

RN&R

THURSDAY 6/5

FRIDAY 6/6

SATURDAY 6/7

SUNDAY 6/8

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 6/9-6/11

2) Steppen Stonz, 8pm, no cover

2) Steppen Stonz, 4pm, Hindsight, 10pm, no cover

2) Hindsight, 8pm, no cover

2) Escalade, 8pm, M, Tu, W, no cover

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

2) Midnight Express, 8pm, no cover

2) George Pickard, 6pm, no cover

2) George Pickard, 6pm, M, Tu, W, no cover

CRYSTAL BAY CLUB

1) Bonfire: Tribute to AC/DC, 10pm, no cover 2) Coop da Loop, Zach Rawlinson, 12:30am, no cover

1) Junior Brown, 9pm, $20-$25 2) LAMBchop, Gurbtron, 11pm, no cover

1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, $25.95-$39.95 2) Left of Centre, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover

1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, $25.95-$39.95 2) Left of Centre, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover 4) The Novelist, 10pm, no cover

1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, 9:30pm, $25.95-$39.95 1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, $25.95-$39.95 2) Left of Centre, 10:30pm, no cover 2) Left of Centre, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover 3) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover 4) The Novelist, 10pm, no cover

3) Honky Tonk Thursday w/Jaime G, 10:30pm, no cover

2) DJ Rick Gee, 10pm, no cover 3) Boots and Daisy Dukes w/DJ Jamie G, 10pm, no cover

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

CARSON VALLEY INN

Junior Brown

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

June 7, 9 p.m. Crystal Bay Club 14 Highway 28 Crystal Bay 833-6333

ELDORADO RESORT CASINO

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

GRAND SIERRA RESORT

2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000 1) Grand Theater 2) WET Ultra Lounge 3) Sports Book 4) Cantina

Karaoke

HARRAH’S LAKE TAHOE

1) Neil Sedaka, 7:30pm, $82.50 2) DJ Rick Gee, DJ SN1, 10pm, $20

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

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 RENO

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

55 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (800) 648-3353 1) Theatre 2) Opal 3) Blu 4) Outdoor Event Center 5) Onsen Spa 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121 1) Tuscany Ballroom 2) Terrace Lounge 3) Edge

SANDS REGENCY CASINO HOTEL

407 N. Virginia St., (775) 325-7401 1) Grand Exposition Hall 2) Rum Bullions Island Bar 3) Aura Ultra Lounge 4) Silver Baron Lounge

RN&R

JUNE 5, 2014

1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, $17.20$47.20 2) DJ I, 8pm, no cover 3) David 1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, Patrone, 8pm, no cover 4) Rick Hammond 8pm, $17.20-$47.20 Blues Band, noon, Motley 2, 6pm, no cover

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

3) The Male Room, 8pm, $23

PEPPERMILL RESORT SPA CASINO

SILVER LEGACY

1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, $17.20-$47.20 2) DJ I, 8pm, no cover 3) David Patrone, 8pm, no cover 4) Set in Stone, 6pm, no cover

MONTBLEU RESORT

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

1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, Tu, W, $25.95-$39.95 2) Live Band Karaoke, 10pm, M, DJ Chris English, 10pm, Tu, Audioboxx, 10:30pm, W, no cover 3) Live piano, 4:30pm W, no cover

2) Bonzai Thursdays w/DJ Trivia, 8pm, no cover 3) University of Aura, 9pm, no cover

3) Salsa dancing with BB of Salsa Reno, 7:30pm, $10 after 8pm 3) DJ Chris English, DJ ((Fredie)), 10pm, $20

3) DJ MeloD, 10pm, $20

1) Whiskey and Stitches, 10pm, no cover

2) Superbad, 9pm, no cover 3) Fashion Friday, 9pm, no cover

2) Superbad, 9pm, no cover 3) Seduction Saturdays, 9pm, $5

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, no cover, Country-Rock Bingo w/Jeff Gregg, 9pm, W, no cover

For a complete listing of this week’s events, visit newsreview.com/reno Street VibrationS Spring rally the fifth annual motorcycle rally is the condensed version of Street Vibrations’ larger event in September. the festivities include live entertainment, bike games, competition ride-in shows, poker runs and walks, more than 80 vendors and Vip parties for participants. adrenalin, the Jason King band, blues Monsters, lucky tongue band, boogie Daddies and Valentine rodeo are among the musical acts who will perform on outdoor stages at the Silver legacy, Harrah’s plaza, the eldorado and Circus Circus in downtown reno during the three-day celebration. the rally kicks off on Friday, June 6, and runs through Sunday, June 8. Virginia City and Carson City will welcome riders participating in the poker run on Saturday, June 7. Chester’s reno Harley-Davidson will host open houses and special promotions throughout the weekend. Motorcycle riders pay a $40 fee to participate in a poker run, bike competitions and games, attend Vip parties, among other perks. admission is free to public events. Call 329-7469 or visit www.roadshowsreno.com.

euroFeSt the Sands regency’s 16th annual festival offers a variety of european cuisine and beer, a craft fair and live music by Familiar looking Strangers, the gruber Family band and Whiskey and Stitches. Celtic rock band young Dubliners will hit the stage at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, June 6-7. Festival hours are from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, June 6, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 8, in the parking lot of the Sands regency, 345 n. arlington ave. admission is free. Funds raised during the weekend event benefit the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Call 348-2200 or visit http://sandsregency.com.

MuSiC-tHeMeD FaSHion SHoW Holland project partners with Crush Hair Studio for an album-inspired fashion show. artists, designers and other creative types will show off original looks inspired by album covers from classic rock bands such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, pink Floyd and black Sabbath to more contemporary acts such as arcade Fire, Future islands, Jay-Z and Kanye West. the show begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, at the Holland project, 140 Vesta St. tickets are $10. Call 742-1858 or visit www.hollandreno.org.

aniMal arK WolF HoWl nigHt

great CarSon City lit FeSt

animal ark’s wolves Maddie, Monty and reyna are the stars of this event. With luck, the wildlife sanctuary’s coyotes will also join in the chorus. Visitors are encouraged to participate in the howl with prizes to be awarded to the best human howlers. this event is recommended for visitors age 6 and older. the presentation begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, at animal ark, 1265 Deerlodge road, located about 12 miles from exit 78 off Highway 395 north. tickets are $15 for adults, $13.50 for seniors and $12 children ages 6-12. Call (775) 970-3111 or visit www.animalark.org.

the inaugural festival celebrates all things creative, including music, visual art, cooking, poetry, theater, dance, storytelling and literature. there will be a variety of entertainment, food and vendors. Free events include author readings, panel discussions, book sales and signings, storytelling, an “unplugged” battle of the bands, cooking demonstrations, a children’s craft tent and a swap meet. ticketed events include the gCCbF great poetry Slam and two performances of theatreWorks of northern nevada’s production of Flirting with the Monster, based on ellen Hopkins’ novel Crank. the event takes place from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 6, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 8, at Mills park, 1111 e. William St., Carson City. Call 384-2290 or visit http://carsoncitylitfest.org.

—Kelley Lang

OPINION

NEWS

GREEN

FEATURE STORY

ARTS&CULTURE

ART OF THE STATE

FOODFINDS

FILM

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THIS WEEK

MISCELLANY

JUNE 5, 2014

RN&R

tickets availaBle at ftffest.com

auGust 15 & 16

Nor Cal’s oNly CampiNg all FuNk musiC Festival Featuring

Are we having fund yet?

90 Auto Center Dr. • 852-4010

28 | RN&R |

JUNE 5, 2014

I’m a single mother with a 12-year-old son. Four years ago, when my boyfriend fell in love with me, he would buy me clothes and jewelry. He also promised to build a house for my son and me to live in. (We can’t live with him, because he repairs motorcycles from home and it’s loud day and night.) Well, he’s building the house but now says it’s for his mother—a woman living perfectly fine on her monthly Social Security checks. I work six days a week and still have trouble making ends meet, despite my boyfriend’s giving me $400 to $500 a month. He keeps making promises that get me excited and make me want to stick around, like that he’ll take me to Hawaii one day. I love him, but I fantasize about having a boyfriend I could live with so he could help me with the rent and bills. We all dream of finding that special someone to pay the cable bill. There’s looking for love, and there’s looking for some man to take over where Daddy left off on your allowance. You do say you love this guy—well, somewhere in there, between all the grumbling over money, clothes, jewelry, trips and elderly moms getting houses. Compare your kind of love with my favorite definition, by sci-fi writer Robert Heinlein: “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” This implies a level of effort beyond waiting around, frowning, with your hand out, for that other person to slap a handful of $100s into it.

The truth is, money actually can buy happiness, because the possibility of having real love starts with not having to choose boyfriends according to which provides the best financial aid package. Monetary independence would also allow you to have higher standards for a partner than you can now. Though no man owes you a home or a trip to Hawaii—are you dating a man or a game show?—promises should mean something. You wouldn’t have to stick around to see which promise your boyfriend breaks next if you could go to the ATM and get a stack of your own money (instead of what the ATM probably spits out now—increasingly rude receipts: “Cash? Are you nuts, lady? You’re more overdrawn than Greece.”). Consider taking steps to become independent, like living a more “European” existence. Europeans seem content with far smaller living spaces, fewer appliances, and not living life as a mad dash to get the next shiny new whatever. You could get a roommate or move in with one—perhaps some other single mom whose values you seem to share. And you could figure out and work on ways to improve your earning power. It won’t be easy street, but it should eventually prove far more satisfying than sitting around feeling cheated out of a house and resenting some old lady—already living the high life on her Social Security checks—for not reusing more of her teabags. Ω

Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave., No. 280, Santa Monica,CA 90405, or email AdviceAmy@aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com).

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by rob brezsny

ARIES (March 21-April 19): “We are born

with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us,” wrote novelist Robert McCammon. “We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand. But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls. We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out. We get put on the straight and narrow path and told to be responsible.” That’s the bad news, Aries. But now here’s the good news: The next 12 months will offer you a series of excellent opportunities to remagic yourself. If you have not yet caught wind of the first invitation, I bet you will soon.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Given the

choice between owning an object and having an experience,” said art critic Holland Cotter, “I always choose the experience.” He prefers to spend his money on adventures that transform his sense of self and his understanding of the world. I recommend that approach to you in the coming weeks, Taurus. The most valuable “possessions” you can acquire will be the lessons you learn, the skills you hone, and the relationships you ripen.

Think Free

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In Marcel

Proust’s novel Swann’s Way, the narrator speaks of how profoundly he is inspired by an older writer named Bergotte: “Each time he talked about something whose beauty had until then been hidden from me, about pine forests, about hail, about Notre-Dame Cathedral ... with one image he would make that beauty explode into me.” I bring this to your attention, Gemini, because in the coming days I suspect a great deal of beauty will explode into you. Why? I think it’s because you’re more receptive than usual to being delighted and enchanted. The triggers could be anything: exciting people, eavesdropped conversations, good books, surprising music and who knows what else?

CANCER (June 21-July 22): “Little

horses cannot carry great riders.” So says a Haitian proverb. Now, in accordance with the astrological omens, I’m urging you to meditate on its meaning for your life. Here are four possible interpretations: 1. Are you a “little horse” trying to carry a “great rider” who’s too much for you? 2. Are you a little horse that could grow into a bigger, stronger horse worthy of a great rider? 3. Are you a great rider who is in need of a horse that is big and strong enough to serve your big, strong ambitions? 4. Would you like to be a great rider, but you can’t be one as long as you have a horse that is too small and weak?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Declare victory, Leo.

Even if victory is not quite won yet. Even if your success is imperfect and still a bit messy around the edges. Raise your arms up in elated triumph and shout, “I am the purified champion! I am the righteous conqueror! I have outsmarted my adversaries and outmaneuvered my obstacles, and now I am ready to claim my rightful rewards!” Do this even if you’re not 100 percent confident, even if there is still some scraping or clawing ahead of you. Celebrate your growing mastery. Congratulate yourself for how far you’ve come. In this way, you will summon what’s needed to complete your mission and achieve final, total victory.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Give special

attention to what will last the longest. That’s my main recommendation for you in the coming weeks. Devote less of your energy to transitory pleasures and short-term hopes. Turn away from the small obsessions that demand far too much of your energy. Withdraw from the seemingly pressing concerns that will soon start to fade because they really aren’t that important. Instead, Virgo, devote your love and intelligence to the joys and dilemmas that will animate your life well into the future. Express reverence and care for the mysteries that will teach you and teach you and teach you for years to come.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): My favorite

bridge in the world is the Golden Gate Bridge. In the hundreds of times I have driven on it over San Francisco Bay, it has never let me down. I’ve always gotten from one side to the other without any problem. In addition to its reliability, it uplifts me with its grandeur and beauty. What’s your most beloved bridge, Libra? I suggest that in the coming weeks you make it your lucky charm, your magical symbol. Why? Because the next chapter of your life story requires you to make a major crossing. You will traverse a great divide. Having your favorite bridge as a shining beacon in your imagination will inspire your strength and courage as you travel.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): U2’s Bono

has called Leonard Cohen’s song “Hallelujah” the “most perfect song in the world.” It is mournful and triumphant, despairing and uplifting. It’s a riddle that improbably offers cathartic release. More than 300 recording artists have done cover versions of it, and it has even been the subject of books. And yet it was a challenge for Cohen to compose. He wrote more than 80 verses before choosing the few he would actually include in the final version, and in one famous session, he resorted to banging his head on the floor to stimulate his creative flow. “To find that song, that urgent song,” he said, took “a lot of work and a lot of sweat.” I nominate “Hallelujah” to be one of your sacred symbols for the next 12 months, Scorpio. From your strenuous effort, I predict, will come masterful creations.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Let

me outline the breakthroughs I hope to see for you in the coming months. First, what is pretty good about you will not interfere with what is potentially great about you, but will instead cooperate with it and boost it. Second, your past accomplishments won’t hold back your progress; you will not be tempted to rely on them at the expense of your future accomplishments. And third, the brave ideas that have motivated you so well won’t devolve into staid old dogmas; you will either renew and reinvigorate them or else move on to a new set of brave ideas.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): If you

are in even moderate alignment with cosmic rhythms during the next 12 months, you will be a connoisseur and master of recycling. I’m speaking metaphorically here. What I hope is that you will reanimate worn-out inspirations and convert faded dreams into shiny new fantasies. You will find ways to revive alliances that went off track. A once-vibrant shtick or trick that lost its cool could be retrieved from the ash heap of history and turned into a fresh, hot asset. Gear yourself up for some entertaining resurrections.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I wish I

could tell you that your power animal this month is the eagle or dolphin or panther. Having a glamorous creature like that as your ally might boost your confidence and charisma. To be paired with one of them might even activate dormant reserves of your animal intelligence. But I can’t in good conscience authorize such an honor. That’s not what the astrological omens are suggesting. In fact, your power animal this June is the bunny rabbit. Please understand that there is no shame in this. On the contrary. You should be charmed and appreciative. It signifies that you will be fertile, fast, a bit tricky and very cute. (To read an essay on the mythology of the rabbit as trickster, go here: http://tinyurl.com/rabbittrickster.)

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The Buddhist

meditation teacher Chögyam Trungpa said that one of the best ways to become fearless is to cultivate tenderness. As you expand your heart’s capacity to feel compassionate affection for the world, you have less and less to be afraid of. That’s the opposite of the conventional wisdom, which says you become brave by toughening up, by reinforcing your psychic armor. Of all the signs of the zodiac, you Pisceans are best set up to benefit from Trungpa’s method— now even more than usual.

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.

30 | RN&R |

JUNE 5, 2014

by Dennis Myers PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS

Mama Inez Casale Stempeck Casale’s Halfway Club, an Italian restaurant on East Fourth Street between Reno and Sparks, was once described as “a Lady and the Tramp kind of place”—even down to the checkered tablecloths. The matriarch of this Truckee Meadows fixture, which is truly a family business, is Inez Casale Stempeck, usually addressed as Mama.

How old is the Halfway Club? The Halfway Club is 75 years old.

Who started it? My mother and dad, Elvira Casale and John Casale. My dad was very sick for a lot of years. And when he was sick, we came into this business. … This was our home and everything. We built this, and then we had a fruit stand. Then, we brought in grapes from Levy J. Zentner [a famed produce distributor] to make wine. Then, the more money we made, we kept building on, building on. We built this section on, the main kitchen, because up to that time, we didn’t cook the ravioli. The ravioli were [sold] raw. Well, because the old Italians, they made their own sauce. We made the ravioli, they took them out raw, they cooked them and used their sauce.

How many children do you have? Six.

How many of them work here? Now? [Counting:] One, two, three, four, five. Five.

How many grandchildren do you have? And they still do that.

Oh, I have 20.

They still do that. But mostly cooked, now.

How many of them work here?

When it first opened, was it just a restaurant and a bar, or just a bar?

Two girls.

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So it looks like it’ll be kept going for a while.

It was a bar and a grocery store.

I hope so. I hope so. You know a lot of people keep their business going hoping that their family will keep it up. … So I’m hoping for the best. I sort of got sick last year, and [son] Tony said, “I think I’ll start cooking.” And he started. And so I said, “Here”— handed him a big spoon. “Here you are, honey.”

How old were you when you started working here? I was about 14. We did dishes forever. And my brother did dishes. That was right after school, come right in, do dishes. … We were never allowed at the bar and never allowed to clean the gutter—you know, the spittoons and that, in the old days.

You turned the kitchen over to him? Yes, turned it over, said “Here’s your spoon,” … [son] John and I make the ravioli. I still make the dough. And we’re very lucky to have the business we have. Ω

When you got married, did your husband [C.S. “Steamboat” Stempeck] come into the business? We were in the service about two years. … And then my mother [said] “Steamboat looked to be a nice name for

Tap into your second childhood We hear on occasion about the importance of taking care of your inner child, to give that part of your now-shell shocked psyche room for self-expression once in a while. If it’s been a bit since you took care of that kind of business—maybe you’ve been too busy nurturing your inner 26-year old at your inner 6th grader’s expense?—there’s a quick and excellent way to do what has to be done. I mean, of course, that you treat yourself to the most high-powered version of Godzilla that remains available on the big screen. Nothing, but nothing, rocks your inner 12 year old like a good romp with Zill. I don’t care about your gender, your racial background, your sexual preferences, or your investment strategies. All I know is that your inner 12 is gonna appreciate the gesture, and will repay you with some good old-fashioned super zealous 12 year old earnest gratitude. Rest assured, right off the bat, that the producers, directors, and stars of this new Godzilla know very well that there are two points in

a bartender.” I knew, right then, I was sunk. Because I [had] said, “I’ll never bring my husband into this business, I’ll never come back.” ... Never say never. So, I came back.

∫y Bruce Van Dye and something, he finally decides, just needs to fucking burn. Which is when the Good God flames on, and again, here in this new movie, the results are so mega ultra epic that we in the audience have no choice but to simply be broasted with extreme satisfaction. They just freakin’ nail it. And that’s just the first blast. With the next one, we discover that we are forced to take seriously the concept of Zilla porn. The scene is just that good. It soars into realms that leave us baked, stunned and agog. And hey, isn’t that why you came to the dang movie in the first place? Another pleasantry from the new Godzilla is the cameo appearances put in by both Yucca Mountain and Vegas. No spoilers here, except to say if you’ve ever wanted to see something mischievous happen to that funky faux Eiffel Tower there on Las Vegas Boulevard, well, your ship has come in, so to speak. Ω

every Zilla flick where the rubber meets the road. One is when Mr. G announces himself with the classic Godzilla thunder/metallo vocal super roar. The sound crew for this new flick jumps all over this essential in a thoroughly appropriate and deliciously over-the-top fashion, and quite simply, brings it. The result is not just satisfying, it’s satisfying on an extreme visceral level. This is critical. When Zill cuts loose with that first bridge-rattling blast, we in the audience instinctively want it to jostle our intestines a little bit. We wanna experience a sonic beatdown, one that leads to submission, respect, and sick delight. That’s what happens, and it is most off-thehookedly solid. Crucial Zilla Point Number 2 goes down when The Lizard King finally has to break out the Flame-a-tosis. It always seems as though Godzilla would just as soon not have to bust out his Melt Mouth, maybe because using it is extremely taxing or something, but eventually, he can’t just smash, pound and mangle his way through to resolving all of the issues at hand,

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THANK YOU!

EE ME ADO

Cycling is not only a great way to travel and

be engaged in your community, but it also reduces car emissions, traffic congestion and burns calories. Cycling is low impact so it’s not as hard on knees and joints, and is a great exercise for weight loss, building muscles and getting in shape. The number of calories burned depends on the individual. The average rider burns approximately 235 calories per half hour riding at a moderate speed (12-14 mph).

2014 Statistics 822 registrants; 164 registrants logged miles 8082 miles logged; 387,937 total calories burned; 3.9 tons CO emissions saved, equivalent to removing 290 vehicles from the 2

road that week

CLE

A big thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s Bike to Work, School & Fun Week a huge success and to each rider who participated in the event! Please visit bikenevada.org for a complete list of all the sponsors and partners.

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Commuter Challenge Winners International Game Technology Hamilton Company Desert Research Institute EE Technologies

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