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
Random acts of commentaRy see Let freedom Ring, page 7.
Some anSwerS, no motive at spaRks middLe schooL see news, page 8.
unmanned flight see arts&culture, page 16.
standards of Beauty see film, page 22.
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We’re here. Let’s go on the roof. Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review. Here we are in a new era of the Reno News & Review. No more Street Vibrations headaches from the bikers getting up to speed at the Center Street freeway onramp. No more frustration trying to get across town because our city government shuts down major thoroughfares like Fourth Street at the casinos’ whim. On the other hand, no more giving tree—we had one outside the building—and no more easy proximity to the university. Nope, instead we’ve got easy access to more places to eat than I will ever begin to dine at. We’re on the safer side of town for bike riding now, and I may even give it another shot. Our new world headquarters, 405 Marsh Ave., is long but thin, and I think the best part of it is the use of space. We have the whole third floor, which is split by one long hallway. The newsroom is at one end of the hall, the sales bullpen is at the other. In between, on either side of the hall, are offices, some open to the hall, others with doors. The whole space is filled with natural light. As I look out my office window, which overlooks a lovely parking lot and the backs of some office buildings, I can see the Palladio, the Sands and the big Nevada “N” on the hillside. Just outside my window on a ledge, there is a nest of urban pigeons, which Nanette calls rock doves, but I mostly call air rats. Still, it’s kind of nice to have a little evidence of nature that doesn’t try to sting me. We’ve also got wifi and carpetless floors, so while I’m able to stream music all day long now, I’ve got to keep it down a bit. I guess the movers found me to be kind of a pack rat. I’m just glad I wasn’t here to feel sorry for them while they carried these huge wooden desks up three narrow flights of stairs. I will note that the tape was scratched on my standup desk, and my fan broken. It’s cool, though, we’ve got the air-conditioning working now anyway.
Bundy has a point Re “Patriotic Hypocrisy” (Left Foot Forward, May1): Sheila Leslie should check her facts. Her allegation of Cliven Bundy calling a second press conference the next day to “explain himself” is false. The reporter from the New York Times published, as did Media Matters, a 30-second blurb, taken out of context, from this press conference, and ran with it in a deliberate attempt to smear Bundy as a racist. The press conference in its entirety (not the edited version) was available online when the story broke. While Bundy may be inarticulate and unsophisticated in his expression, those who viewed the full press conference know that Bundy was not being racist. He was presenting the concept, from his own observation of a particular group of black people in Las Vegas public housing, as to whether these people were better off having traded one form of slavery for another—that being slavery to the federal government, on which they have become dependent for all their needs. Many of us, including many black people— Alan Keyes for one—knew exactly what Bundy was saying. At the heart is government control over every aspect of one’s life and the consequences. We all know Bundy hasn’t paid his fees to the Bureau of Land Management, but the press has largely ignored why, as well as the duties of those ranchers who use public lands for grazing. When the BLM started charging ranchers grazing fees, the ranchers were told they would help offset the ranchers’ cost of upkeep on these lands. Bundy contends that the BLM used the fees to buy out, mostly below market value, the ranchers they were driving out of business. In other words, buying them out with their own money. Ranchers, out of their own pocket, build miles of fences, water lines, put up water tanks, as well as practice conservation of natural habitat. If there is a loose staple, missing nail, or a rail off kilter, the BLM (or USFS) can cite the rancher, resulting in the confiscation of any number of head of cattle, fines, or revocation of rights.
Our Mission To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages people to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live.
These are the tactics being used, that have been used for decades, to drive the family ranchers out of business throughout the West. There are an untold number of examples of this. Similar tactics are being used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency to restrict or eliminate family farms. The environmentalists and “greenies” are being used to further this agenda by the use of “endangered species.” The desert tortoise proliferates throughout the Southwest. It is not and probably never was endangered. Water to California farmers was shut down a few days ago because of the Delta smelt. A ranching couple in Colorado just had their water source for their cattle all but completely fenced off, even though they have riparian rights, because of some “jumping mouse.” Not paying grazing fees is a civil, not criminal matter. People need to ask why the BLM (an agency which was meant to practice “stewardship” of the public land) raids a ranch in the early morning hours, with 200-plus snipers, armed federal agents in full body armor, private contractors, attack dogs, tasers, and helicopters, and then proceeds to create a “free speech” zone, a “no fly” zone over the ranch, and blocks cell communication. Over grazing fees? Hardly. People need to wake up. Everything happening in our country—including anthropogenic global warming, Common Core education, gun control and the disarming of America, our militarized police, government run healthcare, and the attempt by government to collect data on every aspect of our lives while keeping us under constant surveillance—is all part of implementing United Nations Agenda 21. Once believed to be the delusion of “conspiracy theorists,” U.N. Agenda 21 is now a fact. All one has to do is go to the U.N. website. Everyone in America needs to familiarize themselves with what it entails, and its ultimate goal. The internet has a vast wealth of information, or I would recommend Rosa Koire’s book, Behind The Green Mask. Noreen Cerino Reno
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
—D. Brian Burghart
brianb@ ne wsreview . com
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Well, it’s cheap Re “Buy a candidate” (Editorial, May 8): How can you buy a candidate when they have already been bought? The power of the vote has been lost to the power of the dollar. We the people need to realize that our vote no longer counts. It serves no other purpose than to make us think that we have a say in the political outcome. As for the media, can they be trusted? Or has their trust gone to money, corporations and politics? The government and media are both broken and no longer serve the people. When we the people realize this is when we the people can start to make a change. The power of the vote belongs to the people, not the corporations and their money. Rick Carter via email
Only in government Can you mandate how much your boss will pay you? At the April 30 Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) board meeting, the three governor-appointed commissioners unanimously voted themselves 19-21 percent pay increases. No checks and balances by an oversight body were necessary. One of the justifications offered was to compare themselves with Gaming Control Board members, an agency with four times the budget and staff and that generates almost $900 million of annual revenue. Except for a few fines and fees, the PUCN generates no revenue for the state. It is a cost center. Money to operate this agency comes from an unidentified tax buried in each of our monthly utility bills. Eleven other job functions were also given pay raises up to 24 percent. The executive director claims it is a national job market, but salary surveys of comparable jobs were limited to Nevada alone. Are these enormous percentage increases appropriate when so many Nevadans are still struggling and nationwide unemployment, even among highly-trained and experienced professionals, is still widespread?
Distribution Director Greg Erwin 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
An even bigger question: Should any state board members or commissioners have the ability to raise their own salaries without oversight and approval by some other body? Fred Voltz Carson City
Black Tower rising The Black Tower strikes again. This time “stealing” from the poor and giving to the police. By the wizardry of NRS 268.780-785, called Special Assessment District (S.A.D.), the homeowners of downtown Reno— whether they can afford it or not—are, by the wisdom of our city fathers/ mothers, now going to bear an additional tax exaction, besides property and sewer taxes, to pay for more police presence. No Guardian Angels need apply when it’s a matter of employing 14 men and women in blue who all have been highly trained and educated in constitutional, common law rights, I’m sure, to respect the people’s rights—you know, rights protection officers. Unfortunately for the less fortunate among us, there is no provision for hardship determination or exemption for SADs as there is, interestingly, for local improvement (districts) as described in NRS 271.357. Such is the sad news from the spokesmouth of Stephen L. Hardesty, management analyst and assessment district coordinator for the city of Reno. No matter that Reno and most of the country are still struggling in the throes of the Great Recession. No matter that there are unemployed, elderly, disabled, retired folks approaching or living on the edge. Downtown Reno just has to have more police and their programs, above and beyond the general revenues already coming in. Nobody rational wants a “crime state;” but neither should anyone want a “police state” at the cost of one’s financial survival. Good people are being leaned on harder than ever by the Reno City Council and their agencies. Stanley Waugh Reno
Business Nicole Jackson, Tami Sandoval Lead Technology Synthesist Jonathan Schultz Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalinn Jenkins 405 Marsh Ave., Third Floor Reno, NV 89509 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds to classifieds@newsreview.com
Web site www.newsreview.com Printed by Paradise Post The RN&R is printed using recycled newsprint whenever available. Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the RN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. The RN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form.
Cover design: Brian Breneman
FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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MAY 22, 2014
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may 22, 2014
by Dennis Myers
This ModeRn WoRLd
by tom tomorrow
Is Reno’s image positive or negative? Asked at Reno Aces ballpark Matthew Hendricksen Legal office staffer
I think it’s positive for locals. I think the people who live here and know here and understand the community appreciate it and understand the values and understand what we have in the community. And I think the external perception is a bit more negative, and it’s not the Reno of the ’60s and ’70s.
Jessie Crischard Artist
Very positive. I work here every weekend, it’s always been a pleasant experience. I live in South Lake Tahoe. It’s a good atmosphere, and also I’m an artist, and they have built up their art scene here.
Lee Arnold Retiree
Not this time The world apparently has changed where privacy is concerned. It was only a few months ago that the Sparks Police Department refused to release to the news media the name of the boy, Jose Reyes-Urtiz, who had shot and killed Michael Landsberry and wounded two other students, ostensibly hoping to spare the killer’s family embarrassment or shield them from the community’s frustration and anger. That was October. “How does it help the community to know his name?” was the rhetoric that was floating around the town when members of the media, including this newspaper, called for the release of information that was by state law public. Jose Reyes-Urtiz was guilty. He may have also been a victim of something—perhaps mental illness, perhaps physical or emotional mistreatment—but we do know he was a murderer who had no right to privacy, and not just because he was a child, and not just because he was dead, but because the entire community had the right to know. And then just last week, when releasing the report about the Sparks Middle School shooting, Sparks Police Chief Brian Allen disclosed the names of two children who had every expectation of and right to privacy. In so doing, he also raised suspicions against one student, a 12-year-old boy. (Both children named were victims of Reyes-Urtiz’ gunfire, which may not be stigmatizing, but it still raises issues of privacy, particularly for children.)
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Positive. I think people who come here, I’ve heard them say more than once they liked it, and they’ll still come here. There’s a lot of effort by the city to spruce up the area. It looks a lot better than it did when I moved here 25 years ago.
This student, after police decided his behavior did not rise to the level of prosecutable bullying—and it’s not a high standard; see the sidebar on page 9—then had his name included in a public presentation and reported by the press. This was, again, despite the fact that he was never officially accused of a crime. A child victim of attempted murder, neither indicted nor convicted of anything, was defamed by forever having his name attached to the killing of teacher Michael Landsberry, becoming a sacrificial lamb because the community apparently needed someone to point a finger at for a seemingly inexplicable act. This is a heinous example of victim blaming, but it’s sure hard to find people who came out in this child’s defense. This newspaper is often the first in line to demand and publish information the public is entitled to, and there was even discussion about publishing this child’s name in this week’s news section, since it had already been published on KOLO, KRNV and KTVN and in the Reno Gazette-Journal. The truth is, once Allen released it publicly, it was irrelevant what media chose to put the name on the internet because that boy’s life was forever changed. We still chose to withhold it. Somebody over there at the city of Sparks has got to get informed about what Nevada law says about what information must be released in public records and what can be withheld. Once again, it appears city of Sparks attorneys chose the expedient course. Ω
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Kate Florio Retiree
Very positive. There’s sort of good vibes about it. I’ve only been here a couple of months, but there’s good vibes. It’s just sort of a clean town. The people seem to be really nice. I came here from Oregon.
Joe Bigelow Mechanic
Not highly positive but not totally negative. It’s kind of on the downside. It’s not family friendly. It’s just basic casino gambling, and that’s it, and then prostitution down on that other street. There’s a drug problem in this neighborhood. I just moved here a year or two ago. They need to clean the drugs up, and prostitution— get it somewhere that they can control it and open up [more things] for people under 21. |
THIS WEEK
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MAY 22, 2014
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We’ve taken a forward step with health care While Republican lieutenant governor candidates Sue Lowden and Mark Hutchison have been busy hurling insults and taunting each other about who did the most to unsuccessfully defeat Obamacare, something extraordinary happened: Some 183,000 uninsured Nevadans got health care. by Instead of going to the emergency Sheila Leslie room for strep throat, leaving behind an astronomical bill they’re never going to be able to pay, they can go to urgent care or see their primary care physician just like those of us with health insurance do. They are now able to address chronic medical problems and get preventive care. They won’t constantly worry that a medical crisis will bankrupt them for life. And Nevada will have a more productive workforce as health care costs go down. According to a new report from the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange, 148,000 of the newly insured are eligible for Medicaid, and the rest entered the private insurance market. Nevada, long ranked among the worst states for uninsured residents,
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MAY 22, 2014
might not be in the bottom 10 much longer. Gov. Brian Sandoval and the Legislature deserve credit for implementing the federally financed Medicaid expansion component of the Affordable Care Act despite the garbled criticism from Lowden and Hutchison. Nineteen other states, dominated by Republicans, have refused the federal dollars, leaving hundreds of thousands of eligible people without access to health insurance. Despite the Feds’ offer to cover 100 percent of the cost now, and then gradually reduce their contribution to 90 percent by 2020, these states refuse to act, leaving their constituents adrift and saddling their taxpayers with the bill for uninsured care in emergency rooms. It’s elected malfeasance, really. Taking a cue from Nevada’s historically bad habits, these states still refuse to accept Medicaid expansion, thereby ensuring their tax dollars are passed along to states that do want to insure their families. And worse, while it’s morally wrong to allow people to
die or get sick for lack of medical care, it rises to a new level of outrage when the funding is available to prevent it. While the federal health exchange, Healthcare.gov, which matches consumers with the private insurance market, had an abysmal start, enrollment is now exceeding projections, premiums are lower than expected, and the risk pool has improved. But Nevada’s health exchange is struggling to stay afloat. Sandoval even hired Deloitte Consulting, to figure out how to improve the performance of the Exchange contractor, Xerox. Deloitte was given $1.5 million last March to evaluate what went wrong with the $75 million contract and recommend a path going forward. Three options were presented: spend more money to fix what doesn’t work in the existing system, copy a successful exchange from another state, or move to the federal exchange. Hutchison insists we stick with the state exchange, despite its robust failure. In last week’s debate on Nevada Newsmakers, he chided Lowden for not backing up the governor: “It’s unfortunate my opponent would rather
have the federal government come in and do that rather than support the governor and rather than support Republicans” who voted to implement Sandoval’s plan. Imagine for a moment if we had a Democratic governor as our chief executive right now. The failure of the state exchange would be an albatross around her neck, with smug Republicans saying, “This is why we need a governor who knows how to run a business and enforce a contract.” (As it happens, as we go to press, the Exchange board voted to dump Xerox and move partly to the national exchange.) Meanwhile, Lowden has a scary TV ad using the scarcity of doctors in Nevada as a reason we shouldn’t have expanded Medicaid, claiming seniors might have to wait longer to see their doctor. As for those uninsured families who have been waiting for years for health insurance? Maybe they should take Lowden’s advice on bartering for their health care and start raising some chickens. Ω
It sure looks like it should work: www. nevadahealthlink.com.
Too much to write about Whenever I listen to Conversations from the Capitol, the Nevada Republican talk show on Saturdays at 3 p.m. on KKFT 99.1 FM, I am impressed by Jill Dickman, Assembly 31 candidate. When the testosterone gets flowing, and the boys ramble off the freedom reservation, hers is the voice of reason by Brendan Trainor that herds them back in. ••• The Benghazi Hearings are an obvious attempt to hit Hillary Clinton hard before she declares for 2016. When you are running an empire, there will always be barbarians at the gates. Sure Hillary and Barack Obama dithered while Rome —er, Carthage—burned, but the real issue is why we were in Libya in the first place, and why our ambassador and the CIA were in Benghazi. Were we using Benghazi as a way station to smuggle arms to the rebels in Syria? Don’t expect the select committee to investigate that! ••• Kisstory was made at the end of the NFL draft when the St. Louis Rams picked Michael Sam, the first
openly gay NFL player. The world’s greatest reality show scored extra points when Sam cried and kissed his boyfriend on camera. Although he is a marginal talent and may not last long in the league, Sam’s pick shows again just how far we have come in so short a time in mainstreaming gay rights. ••• Note to Michelle Obama: Your husband has killed and orphaned many more girls with drone strikes than Boko Haram can dream of doing! ••• I know Gov. Brian Sandoval is an economic moderate, but maybe this time we need a popular moderate with ties to the Hispanic Community to finally send Harry Reid to pasture in 2016, whether or not the Republicans take the Senate this year. ••• Speaking of Hispanics, Sen. Rand Paul has chastised the Republicans for spending so much time on Voter ID histrionics. Voter ID is constitutional, but is it wise to thump on this minor cause of voter fraud when Republicans
have gone out of their way to alienate minorities for so long? ••• House Republicans are holding up the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform bill over the technical issue of who gets to certify the border is secure, Congress or the president. The border will never be secure; it is a fool’s errand. Even if it were to be somehow “secure,” at what cost? We have already lost much of our right to travel, and there is a 100 mile from the border Constitution-free zone with checkpoints that harass us and eat our substance. Still, there are many things wrong with “comprehensive” bills about just about anything. Perhaps incrementalism is the way to go with immigration reform. Constitutional conservatives might want to explain where the Constitution gives the federales the power to limit immigration. It only empowers them to draw up uniform rules for naturalization. An activist Supreme Court gave that power to
the feds. So much for consistent conservative principles. ••• Gravel-voiced Senate 16 candidate Gary Schmidt told me: “I would never have run as an insurgent candidate 25 years ago for fear of being buried in a shallow grave in the desert.” I guess that’s progress! ••• The Supreme Court has ruled that sectarian prayer to open a government meeting is constitutional. It’s not the prayer that has me concerned, it’s the government meeting! Christian activists should remember the old axiom to be careful what you wish for. Now that sectarian prayer at government meetings is OK, what will stop the Pastafarians from demanding a prayer to the Flying Spaghetti Monster? ••• Why do the BLM and other federal administrative agencies have the power to carry guns? Ω
Here’s a story about Satanist plans for the Oklahoma capital: http://bit.ly/1mi7x6Y
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MAY 22, 2014
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Photo/Dennis Myers
Sparks Police Chief Brian Allen read a statement on the October school shooting with Sharon Landsberry, widow of slain teacher Michael Landsberry, and school district police chief Mike Mieras at his side.
Last chance for Joe Another part of the old Sparks Nugget seems destined for the trash heap. “Last Chance Joe,” a 36-foot-tall statue in front of the Nugget, has been in place for more than half a century. The new owners—Global Gaming and Hospitality LLC of Rhode Island—have decided to get rid of it. A May 12 meeting of the Sparks City Council was devoted mostly to discussion of how it might be saved and moved to another location. Most options were pretty expensive, in the $60,000 range, and drew protests from some councilmembers The character of Last Chance Joe, a bearded old West figure wearing a red bandana and packing a pistol on each hip, was created by Roscoe “Duke” Reading of Boise on a commission from THE RN&R’s NEWSROOM VASE Nugget founder Dick Graves in 1952, when Graves was still operating in Idaho. One of his enterprises was the Last Chance Cafe in Garden City, Idaho. Graves told a University of Nevada, Reno interviewer in 1978, “So, I sort of commissioned Duke to come up with some kind of a character, some kind of a design that we could use, and he created Last Chance Joe, which we used so extensively and of course is still being used. ... We eventually had rubber dolls made that were about 12, 14-inches-high and sold tens of thousands of these dolls. It was a good character—sold for one dollar.” There were also Joe coins, postcards, salt and pepper shakers, and bobble heads, and the figure was used on casino chips and in advertising. Graves had the Sparks figure built by R.H. Grosh Scenic Studios in Los Angeles (which also created some Disneyland figures) and installed it Sparks in 1958. He also hired a Virginia City resident who portrayed a similar character named Badwater Bill to take on the role of Joe in parades and similar promotions over the years.
Republican? Me? Some Republicans are apparently feeling ambivalent about their Republicanism. GOP candidate for lieutenant governor Mark Hutchison is sending out glossy, four-page attacks on his opponent Sue Lowden, but readers have to look very closely to see the word Republican. It appears once, on the second page where the date of the Republican primary is reported. Otherwise, readers could get the idea that Hutchison is running for the Conservative Party nomination, if Nevada had a Conservative Party. That’s the term next to his name where the party affiliation normally appears (see photo). Nevada Assembly candidate Rick Fineberg is advertising in an unusual spot—the back side of KKFT bumper strips being handed out around town by the Fox radio affiliate. On that small space, there is apparently no room for his party membership, but the word conservative appears twice. Fineberg is running in the primary against Assembly Republican floor leader Pat Hickey, whose materials do feature the party prominently.
—Dennis Myers
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MAY 22, 2014
Play on words A legal definition stifles discussion of bullying Jose Reyes-Urtiz, the deceased suspect in the Sparks Middle School shooting, was bullied, but no one in officialdom by will say so. As a result, what the boy Dennis Myers experienced is being trivialized as “teasing.” A lengthy report on the incident by the Sparks Police Department and other reports paint a picture of a suspect who was sensitive and easily hurt, who cried easily or became angry in lower grades, whose classmates in elementary school were protective of him, but whose classmates in high school taunted and harassed him, and who kept most of this to himself with the result that no one suspected what he was planning.
“A lot of people are just simply ignoring the problem.” Sen. David Parks The report did not address whether there was link between what Reyes endured and what he did on October 21, 2013. On that date, the report says, Reyes went to school with a gun in his backpack. He shot and wounded a student, shot and killed teacher Michael Landsberry, shot at and missed teacher Eric Perez, and shot and wounded a second student. Reyes then shot and killed himself.
At a news conference, Sparks police chief Brian Allen said Reyes did not experience bullying within the meaning of Nevada law. That did not mean Reyes did not experience other kinds of bullying. Allen described him being harassed in ways that did not fall under the law and he did not address whether that treatment motivated Reyes. “Information gathered indicated the following things occurred during [physical education] class and that [student] was involved in several of these instances,” Allen said. “[The student] was observed telling the suspect that he didn’t have the muscles to participate in PE, called him names during PE and at one point was involved in an incident where the suspect had water spilled on his pants and kids made fun of him for ‘peeing’ his pants. … Information gathered indicated that some students made fun of the suspect and mocked him for his speech pattern. Information was provided regarding students calling the suspect ’stupid’ and/or ’retard’ in the hallways, and it was reported some students poked the suspect in the side.” One student said other students once pulled Reyes’s pants down, but that incident was not confirmed by police, which apparently means no second witness to the incident could be found (questions were not answered at the news conference).
“If that is all true, if even half of these things are true, I would say he was being bullied,” said licensed clinical social worker Diana Glomb later. “As an outside observer I would call it bullying.” However, apparently to distinguish between legally actionable bullying and bullying that is not addressed by the law, Allen avoided using the term at all, instead saying Reyes was “mistreated by students at Sparks Middle School.” He used the word “teased” at one point, a term also later used at a Washoe County School Board news conference. The SPD report on the shooting reads in part, “No evidence was identified that indicated Reyes was bullied by the definition of state law. However, it is clear [that] on numerous occasions he was treated poorly, teased, called names and mocked by other students.” If bullying took place, it doesn’t necessarily mean it was the motive for the shooting. That requires evidence, and Allen did not say the investigation found that. Reyes left two notes, one citing bullying, the other denying it was the motive, though that note was addressed to his parents and may have been an effort to spare their feelings. This tiptoeing around the word bullying troubles Clark County Sen. David Parks, author of most of the state’s anti-bullying law. He encourages Nevadans to talk about the problem, and avoiding the term discourages that dialogue. “I don’t have a specific answer on this,” he said. “It takes a lot of peoples’ efforts to address this issue. A lot of people are just simply ignoring the problem and presuming it won’t escalate to something else.” Using euphemisms aggravates that avoidance, he said. “It’s part of the overall problem.” “It doesn’t seem to promote the dialogue, and it’s sort of like climate change—we don’t want to address it,” Glomb said. “But it’s a very real fact, this intimidation of each other. It’s like rape on campus, experiencing power over another.” University of Nevada, Reno sociologist James Richardson said, “Language is everything. If a huge battle goes on over terms, then those who get to define terms win the war.” He said that in a lengthy report, language should have been found to distinguish legally prosecutable bullying from other types of bullying without making it sound petty, as with “teasing.”
DEFINING BULLYING The section of Nevada Revised Statutes (Nevada’s basic laws) that cover crimes defines bullying this way: “Bullying” means a willful act which is written, verbal or physical, or a course of conduct on the part of one or more persons which is not otherwise authorized by law and which exposes a person one time or repeatedly and over time to one or more negative actions which is highly offensive to a reasonable person and: (1) Is intended to cause or actually causes the person to suffer harm or serious emotional distress; (2) Poses a threat of immediate harm or actually inflicts harm to another person or to the property of another person; (3) Places the person in reasonable fear of harm or serious emotional distress; or
Avoidance also curbs examination of the usefulness of antibullying education. Sparks Middle School is the second incident that raises questions about anti-bullying instruction. Reyes was attending school 8 days and 10 days before the shooting, days when anti-bullying videos were shown. Six days before the Sparks shooting, a Carterville, Illinois, school boy killed himself a day after viewing a school antibullying video. That suicide came on “National Spirit Day,” a national anti-bullying education day. While Reyes may have been bullied, and notes left by him make it clear he planned the shooting incident, that does not necessarily establish that the bullying caused the shooting incident, as some reporters assumed. Still others assumed there was no bullying. The SPD report did not suggest that there was a cause-and-effect relationship. In the absence of such an official finding, reporters drew their own conclusions. The second question addressed to school board members at a news conference that followed the release of the report assumed that bullying caused the incident, whether the report did or not: “What is being done about bullying in schools so that this doesn’t happen again?” While the report played word games with bullying, the rest of the report was deadpan. The SPD report also provided information on the place of pop culture in Reyes’ life, including internet searches and video games. but, again, did not suggest causation. It just provided information. Allen said that of 69 games in the household, 47 were “violent themed first person shooter or shooter type games.” Because Allen did not take questions, it is not known whether it was Allen himself, OPINION
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(4) Creates an environment which is hostile to a pupil by interfering with the education of the pupil. That is Nevada Revised Statute 200.900. There is also a second statute, NRS 388.123, which deals with cyber bullying. It defines bullying slightly differently than 200.900. For instance, “which exposes a person one time or repeatedly” in 200.900 becomes “which exposes a person repeatedly and over time” in 388.122. The cyber bullying statute also defines that term: “Cyber-bullying” means bullying through the use of electronic communication. The term includes the use of electronic communication to transmit or distribute a sexual image of a minor. As used in this section, “sexual image” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 200.737.
his department, or some outside body that decided the 47 games fell into a violence theme category. Like the Allen comments and the SPD report, a school board statement was restrained. Board chair Barbara Clark read a statement for the board saying that members would not hurry any conclusions until they have time to analyze the report’s 1,300 pages. “[W]e in the coming weeks will review in depth the Sparks Police Department report in its entirety to see what we as a district can do to prevent such a tragedy from happening again,” Clark said. “We will look at what we did right and where we need to improve.”
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“I would call it bullying.” Diana Glomb Social worker Superintendent Pedro Martinez said, “First of all, and I’m certain you know this, we own whatever happens in our buildings. We will always be accountable for anything that happens.” After Clark and Martinez spoke, Clark threw it open to questions from the large group of reporters. But the question period was cut short by a school district staffer after just four questions because, she said, the board had to go back into session again. However, after the news conference ended, the board did not go back into session. It took a break. One district official said privately that the staff was likely reluctant to have some questions raised. One question that did get asked was “What is the difference [between bullying and teasing]?” It was not answered. Ω
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special aDVeRTising secTion
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ACTIVITIES
CROChEt CONNECtION
7th ANNUAL WALK FOR ANIMALS
Nevada Humane Society is asking animal lovers to gather donations for the care of homeless dogs and cats by participating in the Walk for Animals! Sa, 5/24, 8AM-1PM. Sparks Marina Park, 300 Howard Dr. (775) 353-2376
SALUtE tO WOMEN OF AChIEVEMENt
The 23rd annual Nevada Women’s Fund Salute to Women of Achievement Luncheon will feature keynote speaker Lucille O’Neal, author and motivational speaker and mother. Th, 5/29, 11:30AM-1:30PM, $125 per person or $1,250 a table. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300
LUCAS OIL OFF-ROAD RACES
CLICKEtS KNIttING GROUP
This class is for knitters of all ages and levels. Yarn and needles are available. First and Third Su of every month, 1:30-3PM, free. Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway, Spanish Springs (775) 424-1800
SChEELS RUNNING CLUB
Run with expert pacers and enjoy running in a group Tu, 6:30PM through 12/9, free. Scheels, 1200 Scheels Dr. (775) 331-2700
PERFORMANCE AND MUSIC
Watercolor, pastels, mixed media and more! Th, through 5/29, 4-5PM, $45. Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd. (775) 353-2385
RICK hAMMOND BLUES BAND
PAINt thE MAStERS
DANCE tO thE MUSIC
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may 22, 2014
KARAOKE
DJ Bobby G rocks The Cat’s Meow at Bourbon Square Friday & Saturday nights! 8PM. No cover. Bourbon Square Casino, 1040 Victorian Ave. (775) 997-7177
COUNtRY NIGht
Thursdays, 6:30PM – 10PM, free. Bourbon Square Casino, 1040 Victorian Ave. (775) 997-7177
OPEN JAM WIth tAZER & FRIENDS
KIDS ACtING
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Sa, 5/31, 8PM, no cover. Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave. (775) 355-7711
CONVERSAtION CAFE
The drop-in conversation program meets on the first Saturday of each month, 2-4PM, free. Sparks Library, 1125 12th St. (775) 352-3200
Create masterpieces inspired by the art of master classic and modern painters. Th, through 5/29, 5:15-7:15PM, $85. Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd. (775) 353-2385
LIVE JAZZ
LIVE MONDAYS WIth tANY JANE
A variety of motor sports industry vendors, food and activities. Last chance qualifiers from 5-7PM. Main races begin at 7:30. F, 5/30, 11AM and Sa, 5/31, 11AM, $25 general admission. Wild West Motorsports Park, 12005 East Interstate 80 (775) 323-2977
ARt ADVENtURES
DANNY BUtLEER WIth thE BANDALARELS
FOUR SEASONS BOOK CLUB
The book club meets the first Saturday of each month. Call to find out each month’s book title. First Sa of every month, 1-2PM, free. Sparks Library, 1125 12th St. (775) 352-3200
Learn to act while gaining self-confidence and poise. W, through 5/28, 4-5PM. $45. Alf Sorensen Community Center, 1400 Baring Blvd. (775) 353-2385
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Learn to crochet or share tips with other crochet enthusiasts. Th, 4-5:45PM, free. Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway (775) 424-1800
Sa, 5/24, 8PM, no cover. Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave. (775) 355-7711
Performed by the Reno Dance Company. Th, 5/22. $20. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300
Open mic night every Monday at 8PM, hosted by Tany Jane. M, 8PM, no cover. Sidelines Bar & Nightclub, 1237 Baring Blvd. (775) 355-1030
W, 8PM, no cover. Sidelines Bar & Nightclub, 1237 Baring Blvd. (775) 355-1030
ERIKA PAUL
Enjoy Louisiana-style food and the soulful, breathtaking jazz sounds of Erika Paul on keyboards and vocals. No cover. Th, 6PM, no cover. Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen, 1180 Scheels Dr. (775) 657-8659
BLACK AND BLUES JAM
Tu, 8:30PM, no cover. Sidelines Bar & Nightclub, 1237 Baring Blvd. (775) 355-1030
Vocal and instrumental jazz from “The Great American Songbook”, performed by First Take featuring Rick (SAX) Metz. Fridays, 6PM, no cover. Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen, 1180 Scheels Dr., Sparks, NV 89441 (775) 657-8659
Th-Sa, 9PM, no cover. Bottom’s Up Saloon, 1923 Prater Way (775) 359-3677 Th, 7-10PM through 4/24, No cover Elbow Room Bar, 2002 Victorian Ave. (775) 356-9799 Sa, 8PM, no cover. 50 Yard Line Bar & Grill, 400 S. Rock Blvd. (775) 358-8848
Photo/Sage Leehey
Seventh graders in the Swope Middle School Gifted and Talented Magnet Program gather around Catherine Leon and Black Rock Solar’s mobile solar array.
Fun in the sun Solar energy education program for kids Black Rock Solar’s education program focuses on teaching kids—kindergarten through 12th grade—about solar photovoltaic cells, electricity, renewable vs. nonrenewable energy, and fossil fuels in a hands-on and accessible way. by Sage Leehey They use two methods for this. Either Black Rock Solar comes to the school with its mobile solar array or solar trailer, or they bus the kids out to s age l@ one of 75 pre-existing solar arrays they’ve built for non-profits, schools and news review.c om tribes in the area free of charge to the school. Black Rock Solar has been doing this since 2010, and its education program manager Catherine Leon has been around since last year. Leon sat down and calculated the number of kids that have been involved in either a class visit or field trip since the school year began in the fall of 2013 and said they’ve served more than 1,500 students this year alone. “They’re the ones who are going to promote and advocate for renewable energy in the future, so that’s why we like to expose them to solar technology early,” Leon said. Leon was at Swope Middle School all morning on May 15 with groups of students for this program. “What we do is we talk about what we need to make electricity first because it’s all about electricity,” Leon said. “Then we talk about how we can use the energy from the sun to make electricity, and then we talk about fossil fuels and the impacts they have on the environment compared to clean renewable energy like solar energy.” She has students act out the photons hitting the photovoltaic cells and how the energy travels in the system to help them understand how solar energy works. The kids were laughing the whole time, despite the heat. Leon to learn more or schedule a field trip uses activities like this one throughout her lessons to keep the kids engaged, with or visit from but she changes it a bit depending on the ages of the children involved. Black Rock Solar, After that, students pair up and are given small solar panels, wires and email catherine@ something to power—a small light or buzzer was common. They then have blackrocksolar.org to make the circuit. or visit www.blackrocksolar.org. “They get to touch it and see how cool it is and that they don’t need batteries or to burn gasoline,” Leon said. “They get creative, and they start joining forces. It just gives the kids a chance to explore and experiment. … I don’t tell them how to make the connections, so they have to figure it out on their own. They get to troubleshoot problems, and they have ah-ha light bulb moments on their own, which is great.” Macy Brown, a seventh grader at Swope, participated in the program along with her science class in the Gifted and Talented Magnet program. She also liked this activity the best because she actually got to use solar energy herself and “learned a lot more [from the circuit-building activity] than just reading it out of a book.” Christina Thee, Brown’s science teacher in the Gifted and Talented Magnet program at Swope, reached out to Black Rock Solar for this program, and other teachers can do the same to plan a field trip or visit from the non-profit. Thee likes this program because of the hands-on experience it brings her students. “They not only have the solar panel and the example of how they use the solar panel and how they store energy, they also have hands-on little kits that the kids can work on and manipulate and get their own devices working,” Thee said. Ω OPINION
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M at t h e w S c h u lt z
(executive director of The Generator artists’ space and lead artist for the Pier Group):
Yes, very much so. It’s interesting when you look at artists and art communities, most people from other communities don’t expect what’s happening here to be happening here. It’s because when you move through Reno, when you’re traveling here, you move through the I-80 corridor. You never get out to the old Southwest. You never get out to see the Holland Project. You never get out to see the beauties of the city or the artistic ventures the city is pushing forward. I think it’s mostly because for such a long time we have been portrayed as little Vegas, and this divorce and marriage capitol. It’s very hard for the national dialogue to shift from that. I’m not sure if it’s much of a problem—our comedic reputation as the place that gets kicked around in the movies, I’m not sure that hurts us so much. We get a level of attention that cities our size across the nation don’t get.
l aRRy De ViNceNzi
(partner, Biggest Little Group advertizing and marketing company):
I don’t disagree with that. The question that I have is, when you ask that question, to whom are you referring? When you say, Does Reno have an image problem? Among the media? Among our citizens? Among the general public? I personally don’t think we have an image problem. I think we have a problem accepting our image. As much as we would like to sanitize that and make it look a certain way for certain audiences, it may or may not be who we are. And we’re always trying to make excuses for who we are or we get upset when the Muppets tear us down. I thought that was hilarious, and it was an opportunity to leverage ourselves against the Muppets that we missed.
RN&R: But people have that kind of knee-jerk reaction. why is that? N ata S h a B o u R l i N
(partner, with Biggest Little Group):
It’s a feeling of shame sometimes, in the past, especially we who grew up here, when you’re sitting on a plane, and you’re talking to the guy next to you. “Where are you from?” Um, [hides face] Tahoe or something, and you shift your head. Or you say, Reno, and depending on where you are in the world, doesn’t really matter actually, they say, “Oh, by Vegas?” “No, nowhere near Vegas actually.” … It’s almost like this inherent shame that a lot of us that grew up here feel because of those blows, because of that ridicule, because of being perceived by the world as Vegas’ little stepsister or something like that. We needed to incite that pride that we should feel for living in the amazing that we do. We don’t like being defined by other entities outside of our community as well.
The question, “Does Reno have an image problem?” doesn’t necessarily imply that yes, we Renoites do have an image problem, or we wouldn’t even worry about it. Sometimes we might think we have a problem when we really don’t. And why should we even care if we have an image problem? The RN&R got some smart people from different corners of our community—the business, arts and marketing worlds—and got the conversation rolling. This roundtable conversation transcription has been lightly edited for space and clarity.
Doug eRwiN
(VP of entrepreneurship, Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada, curator of TEDx Reno):
I totally agree with that. I think we have to stop making excuses for who we are. On the flipside of that, there is an image problem. I see it on the business side all the time. People either don’t know who we are, have some negative image of us, or think we’re right next to Vegas. That has tangible benefits when you’re talking about recruiting companies and getting people to move here. If we want to bring in high-quality jobs and grow that, we do need to transform our image to some degree. I think that means getting clear with our DNA and owning it. There’s lots of companies in Austin, and Austin is “Keep Austin Weird.” So I don’t think we have to sanitize it, but there is a reality that a lot of places around the world, or America, perceive us through some sort of negative lens.
BY
BR aD By NuM
S c h u lt z : It doesn’t help that the casinos seem to drive our image more than anything else. They’re the primary advertiser and the primary marketer. They’re the ones that are pushing more people to come into the community, theoretically. I mean, directly pushing. There are a lot of other reasons why people come, but they’re writing that media message. And casinos aren’t great writers of a media message. Especially in Reno, it’s, “Oh, you’re too broke to go to Vegas, come to Reno.” Fuck that. Reno is a rad town. We have everything you’d want—if you’re one of the weirdos.
bradb@Newsreview PHOTOS BY
eRic MaRKS
M o R e 1o4N page OPINION
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“DOES RENO HAVE AN IMAGE PROBLEM?” continued from page 13
Ben RogeRs
(local author and engineer):
But it was the casinos that initially gave us that prominence, probably undeservedly. We’re the biggest little city because of the casinos, so we became a city that got more attention than it deserves for its size, and has always had these extra things for its size. But, the casinos are sort of dwindling. It’s like a wildfire that went through, and now these new species have to come up from the ashes left behind from the casino industry fading away. But that’s what originally gave this town a bigger impact than it otherwise would have had. You can be on a plane in Spain and say, “I’m from Reno,” and they will say “It’s by Vegas,” but they’ll also say “Biggest Little City.” They know that around the world. That industry gave us our imprint. And now it’s ebbing, and we need to be the flowers that come up after the wildfire.
MaRk CuRtis
(semi-retired advertising agency executive and co-founder of Artown):
I think you can really boil all this down to perception and reality. The world thinks we’re a joke. We’re not a joke. Anybody, especially [Erwin] recruiting different companies to come here, it’s an incredibly difficult story to tell. … If they have been here, they get it. If you go to Google and look at the images of Reno on Google, you won’t find the city that we love. You’ll find a bunch of garbage. In fact, half the images, you won’t understand what they are. It’s a Margarita. It’s a spare tire. It’s a map of some mine. It’s stuff that doesn’t matter much. There’s no university, there’s no arts, there’s no museum. There’s no sense of who this town is and where we’re going. There’s a huge perception and reality chasm for Reno.
R o g e R s : For a long time, I didn’t want that overcome because I wanted it kept as a secret. Part of what makes this town great is that it is only 300,000 people, and you can get across town in 10 minutes in your car. It’s a
small town still. Do you really want the whole world to move here and have it be a 2-millionperson town? Then it’ll have all the same problems that the big towns have, and it won’t be the thing that we love about Reno anymore.
Cl aRk DeMeRit t
(music director at Holland Project):
I don’t think Reno has an image problem at all. Like you were saying, being on a plane and saying, “I’m from Reno.” I would never—this is just my personal experience—I say, “Yeah, I’m from Reno,” and the response is always, “You’re from Reno? That’s awesome! I love to go to Reno! The thrift stores are great! This is great!” I think the outside perception helps, like being a little Vegas. They come here expecting it to be a little Vegas, and they have 10 times the amount of fun. Vegas sucks, because it is a rich Vegas. That’s why Vegas sucks. You have to go down there, and you have to spend $20 at a table. Even on the gambling side, I think we have it a lot better. Especially in my realm, it’s a huge leg up being in Reno, and the perception that we have. I’ve never tried to get a big business to come down here, but I think we have that image, too. In my head, when I think I want to start a business somewhere, I want to start it in Reno because my perception of Reno is that it’s the place to start a business. Taxes are more lax. The real problem is that Renoites beat up on Reno, and when people from out of town come here, they love it. Maybe this is a bad example, but I just hosted people from Detroit last night, and I was telling them, “Man, I want to check out Detroit right now, you’re getting this reputation as like an art mecca right now. It’s cheap there, and people are coming in and doing this stuff.” And they’re like, “Man, we feel the same way about Reno. You guys are mythic in our head. We can come out and have a good time and all this cool stuff is going on.” I think it’s great. If you have this big image—I like San Francisco, but it’s got all this stuff behind it, and it’s just a disappointment. There’s no all-ages movement, there’s no house shows. They have this image that it’s this big place, and it’s just a letdown. And here we have it golden. It’s just great.
s C h u lt z : You hit on something else.
There’s a generational difference about how Reno is perceived. Someone in their 60s has a very traditional view of Reno as kind of this dirty place you went to get a divorce for cheap or to go gambling or get married, but as you get to younger, especially Clark, your generation, you’re pretty stoked on it. Brad and [my] generation is kind of right at this—I can only speak for me, but I think you’re in a similar situation. You’re here by choice. You’re stoked to be here, and you’re happy to be here. I get asked by a lot of people, what are you doing in Reno? Why aren’t you in Oakland? Why would I be in Oakland? This is something that’s really cool, and this is a hard media narrative to write, but there are three cities in the states right now that are doing some really interesting things, especially when it comes to arts and culture, and that’s Oakland, Detroit and Reno.
D e M e R i t t : That’s the thing about all three of those places. Detroit, you can go there and get a whole building for like $20,000, a whole multi-story building where you can do any kind of arts stuff you want. For me that’s rad. I want to go to Detroit so bad and play a show and do stuff there. I know there’s some dangerous stuff, too ... s C h u lt z : But we don’t have any of the danger though. I run an art space very similar to American Steel [Studios in Oakland]. At American Steel, you take everything out of your car. You lock your cars. You check on it every two hours. You know that if you work at American Steel for a month, you’re going to have your window broken. I don’t lock my car at the Generator. Well, I guess I might have to start now, once that is published. B o u R l i n : That’s interesting. It’s almost like you have to be economically decimated. But you have to be willing to change also. That’s one thing I think we have over Vegas. Vegas was also economically decimated, but maybe they weren’t visionary enough to see other opportunities. ... They were economically decimated, but they kept the focus on the
casino industry. Whereas here we knew we had to reinvent.
e R w i n : I think our community came together, unlike Vegas, where you have some big factions. We’re still small. … I would say we’re actually on a tipping point, though. I am fully hopeful—and expect—Tesla to come. I think that—it may be a watershed event, I don’t think any one thing will transform everything. But, from a business perspective, that is the most sought after project in the United States right now. If they decide to come to Reno, then they must know something that the rest of the world doesn’t.
RN&R: what might appeal to bands and artists who want to come here might be different than what might appeal to businesses. are those two different audiences or are they the same? s C h u lt z : They’re two different audiences. D e V i n C e n z i : But they’re both going to
boil down to, how’s your school system? People are going to come here and live here, and they’re going to want affordable places to live and a great lifestyle.
D e M e R i t t : From the arts perspective, they totally cross. It’s not exactly the same, but there’s definitely a center spot of the Venn diagram of having arts and all that stuff here. If you just have the tax breaks and the business perks, nobody’s going to want to live here.
Bottom photo, left, Doug Erwin, Matthew Schultz, Mark Curtis. Top photo, left, Ben Rogers, Natasha Bourlin, and Larry DeVincenzi. Right-hand photo, Clark Demeritt and Brad Bynum.
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C u r t i s : I think we have to be careful about comparing ourselves to other places, like San Francisco or Vegas. We are not those places. Vegas was very successful in figuring out what it was and what it wanted to be, and it’s not just gaming. They’re now the biggest, baddest shopping and restaurant city in the world. Forget gaming. They are bouncing back. And that’s something that we’ve always had trouble doing is figuring out not what we don’t want to be, but what we are. San Francisco knows what it wants to be, and they may have issues, but they’re successful. And the property values are back. … Reno needs to figure out what we are, what are schools are going to do, because we’ve got to educate our kids better than we’re doing. Our schools don’t perform very well. D e V i n C e n z i : The thing that’s here that has re-surged is the arts. Reno has a great arts culture and a great arts community. Artown started that and now it’s really growing. It’s these grass-roots young organizations that are really awesome for the future. This is stuff that we should be celebrating. C u r t i s : That’s taken a long time to germinate. In the ‘60s there was nothing like that. We have all this great stuff. And we all live here ,and we all know that. But the biggest voices is still driven by the dying industry, all the money going to the RSCVA is still the biggest voice in the community. It does
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D e V i n C e n z i : The experience of going to a casino has changed as well over the years. It used to be more of a formal place where you’d get dressed up. As it was everywhere, you’d get dressed up to go shopping downtown. That’s all gone. People don’t go shopping downtown anymore. There’s no driving force downtown other than the casinos. This is just my opinion, but over the years they’ve become a little sloppier, and the streets aren’t as clean as they could be and should be, and some of the lights are out here and there because of the recession, and that makes it difficult for them to keep up appearances, so people leave. I think people are afraid to go back downtown in Reno now. There’s a lot of fear walking around down there now, from gangs to being panhandled. It’s a scary place down there now. D e m e r i t t : I actually disagree. I go downtown every night and bring people from out of town there. And Reno is one of the places I’ve never felt frightened in. I could be downtown at 5 a.m. De VinCenzi :
erwin :
OPINION
seem like there’s one large voice controlling the conversation.
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I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about the couple that comes up once a year from Fresno. The older couple. The folks who had a history here, and they’ve seen this transition over time.
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D e m e r i t t : I’m sorry to compare to other places, but if you’re walking around downtown Oakland, downtown Oakland is completely dead. D e V i n C e n z i : That’s not designed to be a destination though. It’s place where people work and then go home. It’s a different model. It’s like apples and oranges. C u r t i s : I think that’s true and not true. That’s what so great about Midtown. California Avenue tried to do this, but it didn’t happen. It happened organically in Midtown because of real estate costs and because that’s where the young entrepreneurs went because you had a combination of imagination and resources. If you’ve been to Albuquerque, it’s like Central Avenue. There’s all kinds of streets that become that organically. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of businesses go under and come back and change It’s going to take 20 or 30 years, but it has happened so fast already. There are downtowns, like Gaslamp Square and Midtown here, that you do want to go downtown at night, and you want action and activity. D e m e r i t t : Midtown is right next to downtown. So you can go have the seedy experience or you can go to Chapel, which is this nice, polished place. But even if downtown is a tiny bit seedy, I feel no danger there. C u r t i s : People older than you do, though. People in our 40s and 60s do see danger and desolation.
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D e m e r i t t : We have a friend, Steve Cook, who came from England. And he thinks Reno is fantastic. But he said he’d never been in a town that was so concerned with its image before. There are certain factions that are like, adventure spot, that’s what we’re going to be. Or, we’re going to be this arts mecca. Or, we’re going to be a business town. But I think just letting it be a little more is important. erwin :
From a business perspective, I think it’s a natural place to be. We have a primary industry and a couple of predominant things that have been the controlling force and dictated our growth strategy and all that. But they’re dying. We’re saying “Who are we?” again. Whether that’s an image problem or not, it’s very natural as a community to be asking that. We do have some image problems, just because people don’t understand.
C u r t i s : When Britt was younger we used to get into these huge arguments when the iPod was born. And my point of view was that this was really brilliant advertising for a great product and her thing was “I hate the advertising, the product is great.” And we would argue into the night. From my perspective, I thought you can’t have great advertising without a great product. That goes to Reno. Forget the image thing. Let’s start out with what you build the image on. Let’s just figure out what the iPod is. Ω
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A
Its pilot, Ryan McMaster, stares at it affectionately. He checks its components as one might check on a pet, looking for bugs or injuries. He’s checking for anything that needs to be tweaked, repaired or improved. In front of McMaster is the control box used to maneuver the drone out in the open. But that’s a complete no-go when it’s even remotely windy outside, as it was during the second week of May. “This would probably end up seriously hurting someone,” McMaster says. Or it would fly into the wall of a building. Or into the Truckee River. All of which would be a dangerous and expensive
catastrophe, so McMaster would never risk it. Malfunctions are rare, but weather is unpredictable. Although the drone looks fairly small, it’s heavy with the DSLR camera mounted to it. This particular model is a MikroKopter, manufactured in Germany but painstakingly assembled by McMaster. It took him 12 hours to assemble. A second kit, a simpler Y-copter that cost a fraction of the price, will take him about six hours. On the control box, there’s a screen that shows what the camera sees. A switch allows him to maneuver the angle of it. It makes a robotic sound as it rotates.
After a moment of fiddling with the drone as its system powers on, McMaster leans back in his chair and crosses his arms. “I’m in the middle of my life’s work,” he says.
Game of drones McMaster is an engineer, a certified pilot and a professional, self-taught drone operator. He graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2006 with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. McMaster is mum about his past employment but says it helped him develop some of the skills that aid him today.
Photo/Ashley hennefer
f te r a fe w sw i tc h f l i c k s a n d b u t to n pr e s s e s, a drone whirs to l i fe i n a f l u r r y of s o u n d, l i g h t a n d v i b ra t io n. I t’s a spide r -l i ke m ec h a n i c a l c o n t ra pt io n, si m u l t a n eo usl y ee r y a n d c oo l w i t h e x pos ed c i r c u i t r y, g l ow i n g L ED l i g h t s a n d a C a n o n 70D DL SR c a m e ra m o u n ted f r o m i t s ba s e. A l t h o u g h i t s g r o u n ded, o n e c a n i ma g i n e h ow i t l oo k s h ove r i n g i n t h e s k y w i t h i t s spi n n i n g b lade s.
Ryan McMaster adjusts the camera on his MikroKopter drone.
These days, he’s self-employed thanks to his passion for drones. He runs the aptly-named company Volant Productions out of an office located at Valley Arts Research Facility. Volant, a French word, means “flying” or “capable of flying.” McMaster’s projects are self-funded, although he has pending partnerships with some local organizations. Through Volant, McMaster does aerial surveying with his drones, including thermal, infrared and ultraviolet surveying. This can give him data like the status of vegetation in a park. This is called a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a tool used by organizations like NASA. “You technically take the RGB [red, green, blue color spectrum] of infrared to tell the health of plants in that spectrum,” he explains. From the perspective of a drone, “red” grass would indicate good health. (That’s on the traditional NDVI spectrum; the newer one uses a more intuitive green.) Rivers, rocks and other non-vegetative matter render black. However, understanding what to look for can yield some interesting data, says McMaster. For instance, some trees might show up as red, which initially seems good. But it could be red because “the skin is exposed under bark, which means [a tree] is dying.” Drones are often used by government and private industry to collect this kind of data and surveillance. “Inspection services are going to be huge,” McMaster says.
DRONES TAKE FLIGHT IN NEVADA
BY ASHLEY HENNEFER
16 | RN&R |
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McMaster says the word “drone,” and the sight of one in the wild, tend to cause uneasy reactions from those unfamiliar with the technology. Much of this is due to the prevalence of drones in military action and the use of the term in the news. A drone is another term for an “unmanned aerial vehicle” (UAV). There’s some debate over which term is most accurate, but many hobbyists use them interchangeably. According to the frequently cited DIYDrones.com, “A UAV is an aircraft that has the capability of autonomous flight, without a pilot in control. … Usually, the UAV is controlled manually by radio control (RC) at take-off and landing, and switched into GPS-guided autonomous mode only at a safe altitude.” UAV kits are available to buy online, and can range in price from a few hundred dollars into the thousands. Parts can be 3-D printed independently. This makes it a popular hobby among hackers and makers. Local makerspace Bridgewire has offered UAV classes where participants can build drone components or fly as part of the “Bridgewire Air Force.” McMaster says his background in 3-D printing and rapid prototyping was a natural fit for building and flying drones. “I like 3-D printing,” he says. “I can print whatever I want. I can print a drone if I want.” But there’s some tension due to the influx of private drones. A 2013 report in Mother Jones said that there will be an estimated 30,000 drones in 2020. While drones aren’t technically illegal, some states restrict use by private citizens and law enforcement. The Mother Jones report stated that Congress ordered the Federal Aviation Administration to have fewer restrictions for private UAVs by 2015. There’s concern that private drones add to a country already wary of privacy infringement; some critics also say that the data collected on public resources by private citizens could dismantle existing industries. Despite these concerns, many private drone owners believe in using their UAVs for good, whether that’s tracking a flood in a neighborhood or delivering burritos (a project by
Have you had unwanted or stressful physical or sexual experiences in your lifetime?
Darwin Aerospace called “Burrito Bomber”). Some larger companies like Amazon.com envision drones as the delivery system of the future. And some use drones as a way to create unique art, capturing footage of urban and rural environments from above.
Are you having problems related to these experiences? Would you be interested in possible PAID participation in research for a web-based treatment, if you are eligible to participate based on a brief phone screening? A research team at the University of Nevada – Reno is conducting a study to test a web-based treatment for stressful life experiences. If you are a woman, over the age of 18, fluent in English, and have access to the internet, you may be eligible to partake in this study. Participation in this study will involve completing a phone screening, an in-person meeting, 3 web-based assessments, and six web-based treatment modules over six weeks. Total time commitment will range from about 9 to 10 hours. If found to be eligible after phone screening, participants will be given a $34 Target gift card after completing each of the series of 3 web-based assessments, for a total of up to $102.
Wide open spaces
For more info, or to set up a screening, please call or email: 775-784-6828 x28674 • labTRIN@gmail.com
Luckily for Reno UAV enthusiasts, Nevada is a drone test site, which means that there are designated areas to conduct research and development on drones. The Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development made an enthusiastic case for Nevada’s claim to the industry: it’s where the UAV industry was founded. The state also offers good weather and plenty of expertise for novice drone pilots, among other features. For novices, some of the drone building and piloting can seem daunting. But McMaster says it just takes practice and dedication. He has an assistant who helps him with Volant projects, and is willing to teach interested people how to fly. However, McMaster is highly selective about who he teaches to pilot, and is insistent on only operating drones while fully sober. “I don’t drink or do any drugs at all,” he says, noting that operating drones while intoxicated is dangerous for bystanders and potentially expensive if the drones crash or get lost. Which does happen—he’s witnessed drones falling into Lake Tahoe. A clear head is key. “I don’t want to see people hurting other people.” However, McMaster notes that much of the fear surrounding failing drones is misguided. The technology is more reliable than most people think, and has a multitude of uses in communities. So while some envision a near future dystopia where the skies are thick with buzzing drones tracking our every move, many drone enthusiasts see it as a chance to see the world from a different perspective. And, for McMaster, drones can just be really fun, albeit expensive, toys. “It’s fun as hell,” he says. “Flying these is peaceful.” Ω
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For more information on Nevada’s UAV industry, visit www.diversifynevada.com/key-industries/ aerospace-defense/uav. Footage taken by McMaster’s drones are on Vimeo page, vimeo. com/user19361620.
• send an e-mail to: contest@newsreview.com and put “AMERICA” in the subject line • you must be 21 or older to enter • InCludE your full name, birth date and daytime phone number • dEAdlInE to enter is thursday, May 22nd at 5pm. grand prize winner and runners-up ticket winners will be notified by e-mail and phone by 12 noon this Friday, May 23rd.
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MAY 22, 2014
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dine out and save! purchase gift cards for up to 50% off Arroyo Mexican Grill: $25 gift card for $12.50 Noble Pie Parlor: $10 gift card for $5 Nothing to It!: $25 gift card for $12.50 Ryan’s Saloon & Broiler: $10 gift card for for $5
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Photo/Brad Bynum
Shifting gaze
"What is the female gaze?" asks Candace Nicol.
Candace Nicol Printmaker Candace Nicol possesses a rare, winning combination: a nice, likable personality, by the ability to create consistently interesting Brad Bynum artwork, and a work ethic that has kept her creating new artwork in recent years, despite bradb@ news review.c om a recent spate of health problems, including a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Her exhibition Orna: Sections of Panel One, on display in the Gallery West of the McKinley Arts & Culture Center through June 6, is all new work, nine 12-inch-by-12inch panels, decorated with callograph printCandace nicol’s orna: making, gel transfers, and drawing. The nine Sections of Panel panels are presented as single panels spaced one is on display around the gallery, but Nicol also conceives at mcKinley arts them as interlocking puzzle pieces, part of a & Culture Center, planned series that she says will eventually 925 riverside drive, through June 6. For reach over 80 panels. more information, visit The subject matter, like much of her www.candacenicol.net. previous work, is the male nude. More specifically, these panels present male nudes as decorative ornamentation—the Orna in the title of the exhibition refers to ornamentation. “It’s also a play on history and how women have been used in decoration,”
Nicol said. “I’m twisting that a little bit and using men as ornamentation.” Nicol is also an art instructor and gallery manager at Truckee Meadows Community College. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Nevada, Reno, and her master’s degree from Boise State University. She says that growing up in Nevada affected her perception of gender representations in art and the media. “I grew up in Nevada, and I always thought it was wrong going into casinos how women were exploited,” she said. “They wore their skimpy outfits. I grew up in the ’80s, and that was a time when there was a sexual revolution in the media. There was a lot of nudity and sexual innuendo in the movies. But the men were never fully uncovered. And I just thought that was wrong. But I was still afraid—afraid of even looking at the male body because of my upbringing. I grew up in Elko with a Mormon mom and a Catholic dad." As a graduate student, she decided to tackle that fear head-on and explore the cultural taboo of the male nude. She
researched the history of the male nude, and used images of male nudes in her art work. “I personally think the male nude is really interesting to look at, the muscle structures and the way that they form,” she said. “And the hair! Guys have so much hair. And I’m a woman—why wouldn’t I like to look at men? Why do I have to be restricted to just do my own body or a female nude? Both men and women have been taught to look at women, not look at men. That’s changing just in the last 10 years, women are objectifying men. And in the media, men are more objectified. But what do women look at? What is the female gaze? I never figured it out in my thesis.”
Nicol says that, the question of the female gaze was a central impetus for her work in graduate school, but it’s now an innate part of her art. Her current exhibition focuses on the idea of ornamentation, which she defines as “putting meaning on the surface in a decorative way.” She cites the contemporary craze for tattoos as an example of meaningful ornamentation. “It has meaning behind it,” she said. “If you ask somebody about their tattoo, they’ll have a whole story.” She says she’s also excited to explore these ideas over the course of such a long, planned series. “As time changes, the artwork will change too, and I wonder what will happen when I get to 80, how the panels will evolve. That’s important to me because of the memory. That’s one thing about MS, it’s affects my cognitive ability, me memory, so it’ll be interesting to see what’s important to me by the 80th panel.” Ω
R & N R E TH ! D E V O M HAS After 18 yeArs At 708 North CeNter street, the reNo News & review hAs moved iNto A New spACe:
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MAY 22, 2014
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Feast from the east Asian Paradise 1131 Steamboat Parkway, 870-1788 Off Steamboat Parkway, next to the Starbucks, is a paradise for Asian cuisine, including Thai, Chinese, Japanese by Dave Preston and Korean food. This upscale eatery is the creation of Tony and Amanda Chang, who moved to the U.S. from Taiwan in 2008 and relocated from northern California to Reno, opening Asian Paradise in November 2012. The restaurant has a very nice décor and ambiance with padded booths, dark wood tables and chairs, and a bar that will hold a dozen. Photo/AlliSon Young
Chef Zeng Lingxiang with a plate of fried rice with chicken and shrimp at Asian Paradise.
For more information, visit asianparadise reno.com.
20 | RN&R |
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There’s a lot on the menu ($9-$19), including standard Chinese fare, but there’s also a very creative and original special menu that caught my eye. Under the appetizers, a moon shrimp cake ($8) was a combination of shrimp, pork and cilantro in an egg roll skin sliced like a small pizza. I dipped it in a very elegant plum sauce and got a savory, minty sweet mouth full of taste bud pleasure. Another special menu item I tried was the spicy fish fillet ($16). It was a Basa fish from the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, and it was a firm but flaky morsel that was coated with an amazing hot sauce. Besides red, yellow and green peppers, it was cooked in hot oil and the fish was dusted with black peppercorns. Ginger and those little crimson peppers about the size of the end
of your pinky added a kick that made your mouth take notice. I can’t get over how well the fish held that savory hot flavor, and the consistency was really a treat for the palate—a black peppery satisfying sizzle for the saliva glands. Changing direction on that special menu, I went for the Peking sauce pork ($13) because it was a sweet dish. The pork sits atop a bed of julienned green scallions and is wok fried with a Peking sauce. The dish originated from Beijing, China. Unlike Peking duck, it consists of boneless pork strips that are marinated in a sweet red sauce. The pork was firm and very moist, with a slightly sweet glaze that does not overwhelm the tenderness of the pork. You put the meat and some onions in rice flour pancakes and eat it mu-shu style. It was mildly sweet and savory and very satisfying. Tony Chang takes pride in the fact that many of the items on his menu are unique to his restaurant. There is a small wine list with some nice reds and whites ($18$25), and everything is sold by-theglass ($5.50-$8.25). But it was a warm day and a cold beer always goes well with Asian food. All the beers are imported—one Mexican, the rest Asian—($4-$6). Four are on tap ($5-$5.50). There are also three sakes ($15-$28) and a plum wine ($14). I had a pint of the draft Asahi black from Japan ($5.50), a super dry, lager-style quaff. Its barley flavor and crisp aftertaste was a great choice for this food. It’s one of the driest beers I’ve ever had and I found it easy to drink and extremely quenching without being filling. This diverse menu can facilitate anyone from a vegan to a carnivore, and there’s no MSG in any of the food. They’ve been doing take-out business and will deliver to a lot of the South Meadows I finished with some red bean ice cream ($3). It’s a small, dark red adzuki bean from Japan and has a sweet, nutty flavor. This was creamy and had a caramel/vanilla taste, a very pleasing ender. Just when you’re bored of Chinese restaurants that are all chow mien and fried rice with no substance, this place might be your remedy. You’ll definitely find some razzledazzle on your plate. Ω
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But for the grace of Godzilla Godzilla Godzilla movies, with the exception of the decent 1954 original, have never really been good movies, right? They are movies some of us enjoy watching because they deliver that dose of camp we desire for some reason. If you are a serious film buff, Godzilla movies provide your brain with a chance to relax and watch something by unintentionally laughable. Bob Grimm That said, I’m a Godzilla fan. I used to watch the Thanksgiving Day marathons on TV back bgrimm@ newsreview.c om in Long Island, New York, when I was a kid. I had a special place in my heart for King Kong vs. Godzilla, and appreciate the fodder that Godzilla and Gamera movies provided for Joel Hodgson on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
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"Well, the good news is that we probably won't have to go to school now."
1 Poor
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5 excellent
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The new Gareth Edwards-directed Godzilla is, by millions and trillions and billions of miles, the best Godzilla movie ever made. It’s no contest, people. This movie tramples the other Godzilla movies underfoot like Godzilla trampling a water tower with cheesy dolls meant to be humans hanging onto it. Edwards, whose lone prior feature directorial credit is the amusing, low-budget Monsters, does good things with Godzilla. He 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 the film’s monsters are CGI, there are some monster gestures where the moves 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 Taylor-Johnson play a father and son team with the last name of Brody—Roy Scheider’s character’s name in Jaws. Many of the initial Godzilla shots include underwater MAY 22, 2014
glimpses and those jagged Godzilla back points cutting through the surface 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. In a way, Edwards is hamstrung by his reported $160 million budget, but he certainly makes the most of it. Big special effects extravaganzas usually cost a lot more than that these days, so just as Spielberg was forced to show less of the shark due to the thing being broken, Edwards only shows the right amount of Godzilla because that’s probably all he could afford. It turns out to be a blessing in disguise, because it makes the final chunk of the film, where Godzilla features prominently, all the more rewarding. That’s not to say the buildup to Godzilla’s entrance is at all boring or lacking in action. Edwards and his team have come up with a nice Godzilla enemy in the Mutos, Rodan-like creatures trying to mate and snacking on nuclear missiles and waste. The first hour also features impressive tsunamis, nuclear plant destructions, and enough hints of Godzilla to make the buildup impressive. When Godzilla does make his big appearance, we are greeted with his wonderful, primordial scream trumpet noise that is just so super sweet inside a big IMAX theater. The sheer majestic power of this sound had me leaning back in my chair. Ken Watanabe plays what is essentially the Raymond Burr role from the original Americanized version of Godzilla, that of a big star inserted into the action whose main purpose is to look really, really concerned. Johnson is the film’s hero, and he’s OK, if perhaps a little dull, in the role. Playing his character’s wife is Elizabeth Olsen, who might not have much to do in the movie, but does perform the best runningaway-from-a-monster-while looking-over-theshoulder move in the film. The final sequence, where Godzilla goes head-to-head with the Mutos and levels San Francisco, gets my vote for best monster mash, ever. If I’m Warner Brothers, I’m on the phone right now with Universal, seeing if I can borrow Peter Jackson’s King Kong for the inevitable sequel. Ω
2
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.
4
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Like Thor 2 and Iron Man 3, this movie shows us how an Avenger deals with life after saving New York City from an alien attack. Cap (an endearing Chris Evans) is just trying to catch up on modern culture now. His list of things to do includes watching Star Wars and Star Trek, trying Thai food and listening to Nirvana. He’s attempting to settle into a world after being frozen for 50 years. Of course, he’s not going to be able to just kick back and relax because evil still exists below America’s shimmering surface, and governmental wrongdoings are going to challenge Cap’s ability to remain loyal to the country he’s named after. After an attempt on the life of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson just Samuel L. Jacksoning it as only Samuel L. Jackson can!), attention is called to the likes of somebody called the Winter Soldier, a fighting machine with powers similar to Cap and identity that won’t be revealed in this review. Cap’s mission eventually leads him to the discovery of HYDRA, an evil movement controlling members of the government, started back in the Nazi days. With Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Falcon (a well cast Anthony Mackie) at this side, Cap looks to take down HYDRA, kick the Winter Soldier’s ass, and possibly work in a date somewhere during the whole mess. The film packs a solid action punch, and some decent dramatics to boot.
3
The Double
Director Richard Ayoade pays nice visual homage to the likes of David Lynch and Terry Gilliam with this, an adaptation of the 1846 novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Jesse Eisenberg plays Simon, an employee at a bleak office, where he’s unnoticed by coworkers, and hapless in his pursuit of Hannah (Mia Wasikowska) who works in the copy room. When his exact double, a new employee named James, shows up, he’s everything Simon wants to be. Brash, confident. and great with the ladies, James mentors Simon for a while, but things go bad quickly. Eisenberg is given the task of creating two genuinely different personalities that look exactly alike, even down to their bland choice of tan clothing. He isn’t given the benefit of a pencil mustache or a top hat for the evil twin. He accomplishes the feat, mainly, in the cadence of his voice. James rolls off sentences with no hesitations, while Simon is prone to stammering. Wasikowska, who can be a drab actress, is good here, as she was in some of her better efforts like Stoker and The Kids are All Right. The Double stands as proof that Ayoade is a formidable director, who manages a distinct vision even when he’s taking bits and pieces from other directors. He doesn’t have a follow-up to this on his slate as of yet. I hope that changes soon. It also stands as proof that Eisenberg being cast as Lex Luthor in Batman vs. Superman might wind up being a very cool move. (Available for rent on Amazon.com, VOD and iTunes during a limited theatrical release.)
3
Draft Day
5
The Grand Budapest Hotel
4
Neighbors
In a film that feels more befitting a TV series than a theatrical release, Kevin Costner plays Sonny, general manager of the Cleveland Browns. It’s draft day, and Sonny has some big decisions to make after he trades away his future for the number one pick, much to the dismay of his head coach (Denis Leary). This is all happening after finding out he’s having a baby with a member of his staff (Jennifer Garner) and shortly after the death of his dad. Directed by Ivan Reitman, who usually helms straight comedies, this is a more dramatic offering from the guy who gave us Ghostbusters. If there’s a big problem here, it is that we watch Sonny go through all of this stuff on draft day, and never get to see the fruits of his labors. The film ends after the draft day is finished, and we never get to see the team play. I’m doubting there will be a Draft Day 2, so I’m thinking this would’ve worked better as an HBO series or something like that. Still, Costner is good in the role, and Reitman has constructed something that is entertaining, while not altogether groundbreaking.
Writer-director Wes Anderson does it again with another wholly unique, beautiful, quirky movie that could’ve only been made by him. In a performance that must be remembered come awards time, Ralph Fiennes is magically hilarious as M. Gustave, the concierge at the infamous fictional hotel named in the film’s title. Gustave has a penchant for older woman, much older woman, and his life takes a drastic turn when he is suspected in the murder of an elderly lover (Tilda Swinton in super heavy makeup). Stolen art, scary train rides and a high speed chase on skis ensue, with Anderson even employing stop motion animation at times, as he did with Fantastic Mr. Fox. Supporting performances by Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody, Jude Law, F. Murray Abraham, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Saoirse Ronan and many more make this a can’t miss film. There’s something so joyous and fun about the way Anderson makes movies. This is a remarkable, tremendously enjoyable achievement.
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.
Into the light Brendon Ritter Lund Brendon Ritter Lund has been a staple musician in the local scene for a while. Dating back to his early college days in by Laura Davis the punk band Reality Remains, to the later years on bass and backing vocals in the alt-country outfit Humble Bee, to most recently playing bass and backing vocals for folk troubadours Buster Blue—Lund has been a solid co-writer and backing musician. Photo/Eric Marks
A good example is one of Lund’s first songs, which he wrote almost 10 years ago, but has only recently taken out into the stage light: “Yesterday’s Paint.” “It’s about the act of becoming and losing what you were,” Lund explains. “Yesterday’s paint is the past, and how that looks to us from the present.” The chorus of the song drives home the message: "Yesterday's paint dries on the easel/A self portrait that lingers like a bad trip coming on when you least expect it/ Every curve and line brings back the time we had/And what we lost along the way." Aside from the abstract, Lund does dabble in the relationship tune or two, but it’s not in the sense one would typically attribute to a singer/ songwriter. Two of Lund’s recent tracks, “Come Clean” and “Get on Your Way,” involve his relationship between himself and his inner demons, the most prominent being alcohol—a relationship he recently ended after it caused him to get taken off Buster Blue’s fall tour. “I wrote both of those [songs] right after I had the fallout with Buster Blue, and I was stewing in my own negativity—it definitely knocked me in a different direction and woke me up,” Lund said. “I wrote them thinking about dealing with what alcohol had meant to me in the past, and my struggles with that. Alcohol had become this escapist type thing—but music is too. And I’m definitely an escapist. You just find your ways, some worse than others.” As Lund said, alcohol and his journey with it is bittersweet. It may have been a demon to battle over the years, but through quitting it and searching for a way to heal, he finally found his way to the spotlight—solo. “It’s been cathartic for me,” Lund said. “When I started playing my own songs, it was nerve-wracking, but performing is where the meditative aspect comes in because you get transported to this different place, and then to have your own songs and be able to own it that way is pretty awesome. It’s something you created. It might not change the world, but it’s you.” Ω
"When I started playing my own songs, it was nervewracking," says Brendon Ritter Lund.
Along with acting as support onstage, he’s also backed countless performances as a sound technician. Lund, who held the title of sound and art director while attending the University of Nevada, Reno, was in charge of the soundboard at Brewery Arts Center in Carson City, and also had a gig handling the controls at the Knitting Factory for a beat. But despite always being a backbone to the bands he played in, Lund’s own voice has gone relatively unheard all this time. So the question has remained: What does Lund have to say for himself? The modest, unassuming musician is finally letting us know, and as it turns out, it’s quite the mouthful. Lund’s songs aren’t your typical aching heart wails about a romantic relationship in the gutter. The psychology major takes a much more philosophical approach with his lyrics. “I started out writing about musings of reality and coming to terms with being a consciousness in the world around us, and what it means to be that and what it means to eventually lose that—life and death, I guess,” Lund said.
For more information, visit blund.bandcamp. com.
OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
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FILM
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MUSICBEAT
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NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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MAY 22, 2014
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RN&R
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23
THURSDAY 5/22 3RD STREET
FRIDAY 5/23
SATURDAY 5/24
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
B-Side Players, Ojo De Buey, Drinking with Clowns, 8:30pm, $8-$10
Whitebulbs, Actors Killed Lincoln, Boats!, Thizz Latin Connected’s Spring Heat, 8pm, $5 9pm, $10, free for women before 10pm
132 West St., (775) 329-2878
THE ALLEY
906 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 358-8891
SUNDAY 5/25
DG Kicks, 9pm, Tu, no cover
DJ Boogi, 10pm, no cover before 10pm, $5 after
Open Mic w/Steve Elegant, 7pm, Tu, karaoke, 10pm, Tu, W, no cover Reverend Horton Heat, Los Pistoleros, Pinata Party, 7:30pm, Tu, $20-$22
BAR-M-BAR
Monday Night Open Mic, 8pm, M, no cover
816 Highway 40 West, Verdi; (775) 351-3206
Rusko May 24, 9 p.m. Cargo 255 N. Virginia St. 398-5400
CARGO AT WHITNEY PEAK HOTEL
The Soft White Sixties, 9pm, $5
Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants, 6:30pm, no cover, Rusko, 9pm, $35
CBQ
Grounded, 9pm, no cover
Audioboxx, 9pm, no cover Blarney Band, 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
Neil O’Kane, 9pm, no cover
CHAPEL TAVERN
Sonic Mass w/DJ Tigerbunny, 7pm, no cover
Good Friday with rotating DJs, 10pm, no cover
538 S. Virginia St., (775) 329-5558 1099 S. Virginia St., (775) 324-2244
Comedy
COMMA COFFEE
3rd Street, 125 W. Third St., 323-5005: Comedy Night & Improv w/Patrick Shillito, W, 9pm, no cover Catch a Rising Star, Silver Legacy, 407 N. Virginia St., 329-4777: Rich Aronovich, Th, Su, 7:30pm, $15.95; F, 7:30pm, 10pm, $15.95; Sa, 7:30pm, 10pm, $17.95; Luke Francis, Tu-W, 7:30pm, $15.95 The Improv at Harveys Cabaret, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Stateline, (800) 553-1022: John Melendez, Don Barnhart, Th, Th-F, Su, 9pm, $25; Sa, 8pm, 10pm, $30, James Stephens III, David Gee, W, 9pm, $25 Reno-Tahoe Comedy at Pioneer Underground, 100 S. Virginia St., 686-6600: Jeff Richards, F, 8:30pm; Sa, 6:30pm, 9:30pm, $15, $18
312 S. Carson St., Carson City; (775) 883-2662
Drum Circle, 6pm, World Dance Open Floor Night, 8pm, no cover
COTTONWOOD RESTAURANT & BAR
Dirty Cello, 6pm, no cover
DAVIDSON’S DISTILLERY
Rick Hammond Band, 9:30pm, no cover
Thee Orbiters, 9:30pm, no cover
Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover
Turnt to the Max Saturdays w/Guda Mac, DJ Van Gloryus, 9pm, no cover
10142 Rue Hilltop, Truckee; (530) 587-5711 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
4395 W. Fourth St., (775) 747-8848
Jimmy Eat World, Stagnant Pools, 8pm, $37.50-$75
Traditional Irish Tune Session, 7pm, Tu, no cover
CW and Mr. Spoons, noon, M, no cover
Karaoke w/Nitesong Productions, 9pm, Tu, Open Mic/Ladies Night, 8:30pm, W, no cover Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover
The Writer’s Block Open Mic, 6:30pm, no cover
Reno Music Project Open Mic, 6:30pm, no cover
GREAT BASIN BREWING CO.
Rick Hammond Blues Band, 8pm, no cover
HACIENDA RESTAURANT AND BAR
Midnight Fire, 8pm, no cover
10580 N. McCarran Blvd., (775) 746-2228
Wildflower Comedy Power Hour Open Mic, 8:30pm, Tu, no cover
Roy Zimmerman, 7pm, $18-$20
846 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 355-7711
HARRY’S SPORTS BAR & GRILL
Open mic, 7pm, no cover
1100 E. Plumb Ln., (775) 828-7665
The Women of
JAZZ
Saturday, May 31st • 7:30pm Sands Regency Ballroom 345 N. Arlington Ave. Reno, NV
Tickets $25
$15 FTLOJ members $5 students Tickets available at ftloj.org
Presented by:
For the Love of Jazz & CAAW
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Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, M, no cover Karaoke with Brian, 9pm, Tu, W, no cover
Live flamenco guitar music, 5:30pm, no cover
170 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-1800
THE GOLDEN ROSE CAFE AT WILDFLOWER VILLAGE
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 5/26-5/28
Suspect Zero, 9:30pm, no cover
THESE DON’T MIX Think you know your limits? Think again. If you drink, don’t drive. PerIod.
Through June 8th
THURSDAY 5/22
FRIDAY 5/23
SATURDAY 5/24
SUNDAY 5/25
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 5/26-5/28
THE HOLLAND PROJECT
Tweak Bird, Elephant Rifle, PostWar, 8pm, Tu, $5
JAVA JUNGLE
Outspoken: Open Mic Night, 7pm, M, no cover
140 Vesta St., (775) 742-1858
246 W. First St., (775) 329-4484
JAZZ, A LOUISIANA KITCHEN
Erika Paul, 6pm, no cover
1180 Scheels Dr., Sparks; (775) 657-8659
JUB JUB’S THIRST PARLOR 71 S. Wells Ave., (775) 384-1652 1) Showroom 2) Bar Room
First Take featuring Rick Metz, 6pm, no cover
Bill Davis, 6pm, no cover
1) Punk Rock Disco, 9pm, $10 2) General Bastard, Riptide Bandits, Stonedaddy, 8pm, $5
1) Black Flag, HOR, Cinema Cinema, 7pm, $15
Post show s online by registering at www.newsr eview.com /reno. Dea dline is the Friday befo re publication .
KNITTING FACTORY CONCERT HOUSE
Jerrod Niemann, John Dawson Band, 8pm, $26-$50
EC Twins, Boggan, Kronyak, Noizechemistz, 7pm, $22
Carlos Rodriguez, Drake Nelson, Cliff McGrady, 8:30pm, $8
MOODY’S BISTRO BAR & BEATS
Graham Marshall Group, 8:30pm, no cover
George Souza Trio, 8:30pm, no cover
George Souza Trio, 8:30pm, no cover
THE POINT NITE CLUB
Karaoke w/Gina Jones & Haas, 9pm, no cover
Karaoke w/Gina Jones & Haas, 9pm, no cover
Karaoke w/Gina Jones & Haas, 9pm, no cover
Gemini, 9pm, no cover
Gemini, 9pm, no cover
211 N. Virginia St., (775) 323-5648
10007 Bridge St., Truckee; (530) 587-8688 1601 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-3001
POLO LOUNGE
1559 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-8864
Reverend Horton Heat
1) Blazin Mics!, 10pm, M, no cover
May 27, 7:30 p.m. The Alley 906 Victorian Ave. Sparks 358-8891
Phantogram, 8pm, W, $20-$40
Richie Ballarini, 7pm, W, no cover
RED DOG SALOON
Open Mic Night, 7pm, W, no cover
76 N. C St., Virginia City; (775) 847-7474
RYAN’S SALOON
Karaoke Friday, 9pm, no cover
924 S. Wells Ave., (775) 323-4142
SE7EN TEAHOUSE/BAR
Live jazz, 7:30pm, W, no cover
Phantogram
Bluegrass/Americana Open Performance Jam, 7pm, no cover
148 West St., (775) 284-3363
SIDELINES BAR & NIGHTCLUB
Open Jam with Tazer and Friends, 8pm, W, no cover
1237 Baring Blvd., Sparks; (775) 355-1030
ST. JAMES INFIRMARY
Dance party, 9pm, no cover
Tuesday Night Trivia, 8pm, Tu, no cover
Jokers Wild Blues Band, 8pm, no cover
Karaoke w/Rock N’J Entertainment, 8pm, no cover
Koolwater Karaoke, 7pm, W, no cover
Eric Andersen, 6pm, no cover
Tyler Stafford, 6pm, no cover
445 California Ave., (775) 657-8484
STUDIO ON 4TH
Black Box Adventures Experimental Music Showcase, 9pm, no cover
432 E. Fourth St., (775) 410-5993
Hands of Time, Small Drawings, American Goodfellas, 8pm, $5
VASSAR LOUNGE
1545 Vassar St., (775) 348-7197
WILD RIVER GRILLE
Wanders On, 6pm, no cover
17 S. Virginia St., (775) 284-7455
May 28, 8 p.m. Knitting Factory 211 N. Virginia St. 323-5648
Colin Ross, 2pm, Tany Jane, 6pm, no cover
Tyler Stafford, 6pm, M, Eric Andersen, 6pm, Tu, Colin Ross, 6pm, W, no cover
THREE
tickets availaBle at ftffest.com
auGust 15 & 16
Nor Cal’s oNly CampiNg all FuNk musiC Festival
LUNCH SPECIALS flown in daily for just $
12
Featuring
Brownout | JellyBread | the niBBlers | stymie & the PJlo moksha | tracorum | moJo Green Plus 13 more! sponsored by
Recycle this paper
1555 S. Wells Ave. Reno, NV 775-323-1211 • 1-877-932-3700
Upcoming ShowS
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13
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OPINION
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NEWS
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GREEN
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FEATURE STORY
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ARTS&CULTURE
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IN ROTATION
’13
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ART OF THE STATE
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FOODFINDS
13
13
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13
FILM
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13
MUSICBEAT
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5/23 Latin Rock Party doors at 10 21+ 5/24 Drag Queen competition and crown presentation doors at 10 21+ 5/29 Trap Social band with special guests doors at 9 18+ 5/30 Summer Splash Twerk Off hosted by Kakes & Kream 13 hip hop doors at 10 21+
NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS
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THIS WEEK
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MISCELLANY
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MAY 22, 2014
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RN&R
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25
THURSDAY 5/22
FRIDAY 5/23
SATURDAY 5/24
SUNDAY 5/25
MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 5/26-5/28
2) Kick, 8pm, no cover
2) Kick, 4pm, no cover
2) Kick, 4pm, no cover
DJ Bobby G, 8pm, no cover
DJ Bobby G, 8pm, no cover
1627 Hwy. 395, Minden; (775) 782-9711 2) After Dark, 7pm, no cover 1) Valley Ballroom 2) Cabaret Lounge 3) TJ’s Corral
2) After Dark, 8pm, no cover
2) After Dark, 8pm, no cover
2) After Dark, 7pm, no cover
2) Jonathan Barton, 6pm M, Tu, W, no cover
CRYSTAL BAY CLUB
ATLANTIS CASINO RESORT SPA 3800 S. Virginia St., (775) 825-4700 1) Grand Ballroom Stage 2) Cabaret
BOURBON SQUARE CASINO
1040 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 997-7177
CARSON VALLEY INN
311 May 24, 8 p.m. Silver Legacy 407 N. Virginia St. 325-7401
14 Hwy. 28, Crystal Bay; (775) 833-6333 1) Crown Room 2) Red Room
2) The Movement, 10pm, no cover
1) Dead Winter Carpenters, Chris Shiflett and the Dead Peasants, 9pm, $15-$35
1) Dead Winter Carpenters, The Brothers Comatose, 9pm, $15-$35
2) Jarekus Singleton, 9pm, no cover
1) Robert Hawkins, 8:30-10pm W, $10 in advance, $15 day of show
ELDORADO RESORT CASINO
1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, $25.95-$39.95 2) Atomika, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover
1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, $25.95-$39.95 2) Atomika, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover 4) Jamie Rollins, 10pm, no cover
1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, 9:30pm, $25.95-$39.95 2) Atomika, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover 4) Jamie Rollins, 10pm, no cover
1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, $25.95-$39.95 2) Atomika, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Live piano, jazz, 4:30pm, no cover
1) Dance Inferno, 7pm, Tu, W, $25.95-$39.95 2) Live Band Karaoke, 10pm, M, DJ Chris English, 10pm, Tu, Cash Presley, 10:30pm, W, no cover
GRAND SIERRA RESORT
2) Biggest Little Local Celebrity Contest, 10pm, no cover 3) Honky Tonk Thursday, 10:30pm, no cover 4) Senoritas and Margaritas, 9pm, no cover
2) DJ Rick Gee, 10pm, no cover 1) Bob Saget, 9pm, $27.50-$38.50 3) Boots and Daisy Dukes w/DJ Jamie G, 2) DJ R-Boogie, 9pm, no cover 10pm, no cover 3) Red Cup Saturdays, 10pm, no cover
1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, $17.20-$47.20 2) DJ I, 8pm, no cover 3) Rock River, 8pm, no cover
1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, $17.20-$47.20 3) Rock River, 8pm, no cover
1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, M, $17.20-$47.20
1) America, 9pm, $42.50-$52.50 3) The Male Room, 8pm, $23
5) Memorial Day Weekend Pool Party w/DJ Enfo, 10pm, $5 locals
345 N. Virginia St., (775) 786-5700 1) Showroom 2) Brew Brothers 3) Roxy’s Bar & Lounge 4) Stadium Bar 2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000 1) Grand Theater 2) WET Ultra Lounge 3) Sports Book 4) Cantina
Karaoke Elbow Room Bar, 2002 Victorian Ave., Sparks, 359-3526: Th, 7pm, no cover Hangar Bar, 10603 Stead Blvd., Stead, 677-7088: Karaoke Kat, Sa, 9pm, no cover Murphy’s Law Irish Pub, 180 W. Peckham Lane, Ste. 1070, 823-9977: Steve Starr Karaoke, F, 9pm, no cover Ponderosa Saloon, 106 South C St., Virginia City, 847-7210: Steel Rockin’ Karaoke, F, 7:30pm, no cover West Second Street Bar, 118 W. Second St., 384-7976: Daily, 8pm, no cover
HARRAH’S LAKE TAHOE
1) Elvin Bishop, 7:30pm, $44 2) DJ Rick Gee, DJ SN1, 10pm, $20
15 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (775) 588-6611 1) South Shore Room 2) Peek Nightclub
HARRAH’S RENO
219 N. Center St., (775) 788-2900 1) Showroom 2) The Zone 3) Sapphire Lounge
1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, $17.20-$47.20
MONTBLEU RESORT
55 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (800) 648-3353 1) Theatre 2) Opal 3) Blu 4) Outdoor Event Center 5) Onsen Spa
PEPPERMILL RESORT SPA CASINO 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121 1) Tuscany Ballroom 2) Terrace Lounge 3) Edge
2) Jelly Bread, 7pm, no cover
SANDS REGENCY CASINO HOTEL 345 N. Arlington Ave., (775) 348-2200 1) 3rd Street Lounge 2) Poolside
SILVER LEGACY
2) Bonzai Thursdays w/DJ Trivia,
8pm, no cover 407 N. Virginia St., (775) 325-7401 1) Grand Exposition Hall 2) Rum Bullions Island Bar 3) University of Aura, 9pm, no cover 3) Aura Ultra Lounge 4) Silver Baron Lounge
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MAY 22, 2014
1) Dirk Arthur’s Wild Magic, 8pm, $17.20-$47.20 2) DJ I, 8pm, no cover 3) Rock River, 8pm, no cover
2) Jelly Bread, 8pm, no cover 2) Jelly Bread, 8pm, no cover 3) Salsa dancing, 7:30pm, $10 after 8pm, 3) Eric DLux, 10pm, $20 DJ Chris English, DJ ((Fredie)), 10pm, $20 1) The Deckheads, 7pm, no cover
1) The Deckheads, 7pm, no cover
2) Big Bad Boogie Rock, 9pm, no cover 3) Fashion Friday, 9pm, no cover
1) 311, 8pm, $59.50-$69.50 2) Big Bad Boogie Rock, 9pm, no cover 3) Seduction Saturdays, 9pm, $5
2) Kyle Williams, 6pm, no cover
2) Kyle Williams, 6pm, M, Tu, W, no cover
1) Jokers Wild Blues Band, 7pm, W, no cover 2) Big Bad Boogie Rock, 9pm, no cover 2) Recovery Sundays, 10pm, no cover 3) Industry Night, 9pm, no cover
2) Gong Show Karaoke, 8pm, Tu, Country-Rock Bingo w/Jeff Gregg, 9pm, W, no cover
For a complete listing of this week’s events, visit newsreview.com/reno
caRSon city ghoSt Walk Explore Carson City’s history with character Madame Curry in the first walk of the 2014 Ghost Walking Tours. Experience Carson City’s Old West past by visiting some of the capital city’s historic buildings and hear stories about lingering spirits. The 90-minute guided walking tour begins at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 24, and departs from the corner of Third and Curry streets, behind the Firkin & Fox Pub, located at the St. Charles Hotel. Some of the outside stops along the tour include the Bliss Mansion, the Ferris Mansion and the Rinckel Mansion. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on the day of the event. Admission is free for kids under age 4. Call 3486279 or visit http://carsoncityghostwalk.com. —Kelley Lang
Reno StReet Food: PaRty in the PaRk
dR. hoRRible’S Sing-along blog
black Rock RendezvouS 2014
Made in tahoe FeStival
Midnight MadneSS/ boneyaRd blaSt
More than 20 artisan and gourmet food trucks, food trailers and pop-up restaurants gather at Idlewild Park, 1900 Idlewild Drive, for the weekly food trunk event, which kicks off at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 23, and runs every Friday through Oct. 3. Choices range from gourmet food, local and regional craft beer, mixed drinks, cider and wine. Local musicians will provide live entertainment each week. Call 825-2665 or visit www.facebook.com/RenoStreetFood.
Good Luck Macbeth Theater Company presents Joss Whedon’s 2008 musical tragi-comedy miniseries as part of its monthly Movie Sing-A-Long series. Neil Patrick Harris stars as Dr. Horrible, an aspiring supervillain with his own video blog, who’s attempting to join the prestigious Evil League of Evil and impress his love interest Penny (Felicia Day), but his plans are usually foiled by the egotistical superhero Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion). Can Horrible overcome his own incompetence to ruin the day, kill the hero, impress the league and get the girl? Find out on Friday, May 23, starting at 7 p.m. at the GLM Theater, 713 S. Virginia St. The $10 admission includes a goodie bag of props. Call 322-3716 or visit www.goodluckmacbeth.org.
Load up the SUV and join Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Friends of the Black Rock-High Rock, the BLM, Nevada Outdoor School and others for a Memorial Day weekend of camping, restoration, exploration, celebration and education. Other activities include rocket launches, potluck and Dutch oven cook-off, a kids’ camp hosted by Nevada Outdoor School, and programs and tours that will introduce campers to some of the highlights of the Black Rock/High Rock region. The event takes place from Friday, May 23, through Monday, May 26. Call 3247667 or visit http://blackrockdesert. org/blackrockrendezvous.
The festival showcases all things made in and around Lake Tahoe and Truckee, including some special artisan co-operatives like Salvaged, Riverside Art Studios and Trunk Show. Visitors can shop for locally made products, sample local food, enjoy live music and performance art from Root Elements of the Tahoe Flow Arts Studio and InnerRhythms Youth Performance Companies. Musical acts include Sean McAlindin, Jeff Jones, Peter Joseph Burtt and the Kingtide and Ben Fuller, among others. This weekend also marks the opening of the Squaw Valley’s Aerial Tram for the summer season. The festival takes place from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, May 24-25, at Squaw Valley USA, 1960 Squaw Valley Road, Olympic Valley. Admission is free. Call (530) 584-6266 or visit www.squaw.com.
All World Sports presents its 15th annual softball tournament. Considered one of the largest softball events in the country, 115 teams will play starting at midnight on Saturday, May 24, and play throughout the weekend until Monday, May 26. The 64-hour tourney features concerts, DJs, homerun derby and contests in hitting accuracy, pitching accuracy, speed and other skills. The kick-off party begins at 6pm on Friday, May 23, at the JohnD Winters Centennial Park Complex, 3666 Centennial Park Drive, Carson City. Admission $5 at the gate and free for kids under age 5. All paid entrants will get a Midnight Madness wristband. This fee provides access to all events and activities during the four-day event. Call 997-8000 or visit www.boneyardblast.com.
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The scorn identity There’s this girl in my social circle I’d wanted to ask out for a while. Two months ago, I finally got up the nerve, but she politely declined, saying she wasn’t “ready to date yet” after her last relationship. Since then, she’s started dating some other guy, and their pictures are all over Facebook. I unfollowed her from my News Feed, but I still see her with this guy in friends’ photos. Would it be completely petty to unfriend her? I feel like that would make me look even more jilted and bitter. And I still have to see her at parties and stuff. Facebook is complicated. Sure, there are privacy settings and other controls, but these tend to be more porous than the U.S.-Mexican border. In fact, there’s only one surefire way to avoid seeing somebody in your news feed, and that’s covering your computer screen with duct tape. Unfortunately, this won’t help you at parties or the supermarket, since you can only unfriend somebody; you can’t unexist them. Well, not without the possibility of life in prison. But take a step back. You’re feeling “jilted and bitter”? A woman you asked out left you in limbo; she didn’t make a run for it while you were standing together at the altar. She also didn’t wrong you by saying she wasn’t “ready to date yet.” Maybe that was the truth at the time. Maybe she won’t be ready to date you ever. Chances are, you wouldn’t be so Mr. Resentypants if you hadn’t pined after this girl for eons and “finally”
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asked her out. Turning her into a months-long project for your ego made getting a “yes” from her way too important. You probably did this because you’re rejection-avoidant. This isn’t to say the rest of us are all, “Yay, rejection. More, please.” But that sort of attitude—constantly flipping the bird at your fears and taking social risks—is how you get OK enough with rejection to live your life like you’ll be dead soon instead of like you’re dead now. Getting comfortable in Rejectionville is easier if your self-worth comes from the inside. This is something you may need to work toward. But even if you can’t immediately stop seeing every rejection as confirmation of your loserhood, you can at least stop acting as if you do. Just reinterpret each rejection as a sign to go after the next woman. (Acknowledge disappointment, lick wounds, move on.) Before long, you should be bouncing back surprisingly fast. You should also find yourself reserving your scorn for the truly deserving, like if you ask a woman whether she’d like to have a drink sometime and her response is, “Sure I would. Here’s my address. Leave a bottle of chilled white wine on my doorstep, ring the bell, and run.” 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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OPINION | NEWS | GREEN | feature story | ARTS&CULTURE | IN ROTATION | ART OF THE STATE | FOODFINDS | FILM | MUSICBEAT | NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS | THIS WEEK | MISCELLANY | may 22, 2014 |
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by rob brezsny
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I believe your
persuasive powers will be stronger than usual in the weeks ahead. The words coming out of your mouth will sound especially interesting. I also suspect that your intelligence will get at least a temporary upgrade. The clarity of your thoughts will intensify. You will see truths you have been blind to in the past. Innovative solutions to long-running dilemmas are likely to occur to you. The only potential snag is that you might neglect to nurture your emotional riches. You could become a bit too dry and hard. But now that I’ve warned you of that possibility, let’s hope you will take steps to ensure it won’t happen.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): If there was
a hall of fame for scientists, physicist Isaac Newton (1642-1727) would have been the charter member. He was like Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry were to rock ’n’ roll, like Babe Ruth was to baseball. The theory of gravity and the three laws of motion were his gifts to the world. He made major contributions to mathematics and optics, and was a central figure in defining modern science. There is also a legend that he invented the cat door, inspired by his pet felines. Whether or not that’s true, it serves as an excellent metaphor for this horoscope. It’s an excellent time for you to apply your finest talents and highest intelligence to dream up small, mundane, but practical innovations.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): During the
next 12 months you will have exceptional opportunities to soak up knowledge, add to your skill set and get the training you need to pursue interesting kinds of success in the coming six to eight years. What’s the best way to prepare? Develop an exciting new plan for your future education. To get in the mood, try the following: Make a list of your most promising but still unripe potentials, meditate on the subjects that evoke your greatest curiosity, brainstorm about what kinds of experiences would give you more control over your destiny, and study three people you know who have improved their lives by taking aggressive steps to enhance their proficiency.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The moon
shows us a different phase every 24 hours, which makes it seem changeable. But in fact, not much actually happens on the moon. It has no atmosphere, no weather, no wind, no plant life, no seasons. There is some water, but it’s all frozen. Is there anything like this in your own life, Cancerian? Something that on the surface of things seems to be in constant motion, but whose underlying state never actually shifts or develops? According to my analysis, now would be an excellent time for you to revise the way you understand this part of your world and then update your relationship with it.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Have you thought
of organizing a crowdfunding campaign to boost your pet project or labor of love? I suggest you get serious about it in the next four weeks. This coming phase of your cycle will be a favorable time to expand your audience, attract new allies and build a buzz. You will have a sixth sense about how to wield your personal charm to serve your long-term goals. More than usual, your selfish interests will dovetail with the greater good—perhaps in unexpected ways.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Years ago I had
90 Auto Center Dr.
a Virgo friend who was a talented singer. She had technical skill, stylistic flair and animal magnetism, making her worthy of being a lead vocalist in almost any great band. And yet when she was asleep and had dreams of performing, she often found herself standing in the shadows, barely visible and singing tentatively, while her backup singers hogged the spotlight at center stage. Moral of the story: Some of you Virgos are shy about claiming your full authority. It doesn’t always come easy for you to shine your light and radiate your power. And yet you can most definitely learn to do so. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to make progress in this direction.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “There is always an enormous temptation in all of life,” wrote Annie Dillard, “to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for itsy-bitsy years on end. ... I won’t have it. The world is wilder than that in all directions, more dangerous and bitter, more extravagant and bright.” Your assignment in the coming weeks, Libra, is to transcend whatever is itsy-bitsy about your life. The alternative? Head toward the frontier and drum up experiences that will thrill your heart and blow your mind.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “We are all
searching for someone whose demons play well with ours,” wrote novelist Heidi R. Kling. That’s good advice for you to keep in mind these days, Scorpio. Those little imps and rascals that live within you may get you into bad trouble if they feel bored. But if you arrange for them to have play dates with the imps and rascals of people you trust, they are far more likely to get you into good trouble. They may even provide you with bits of gritty inspiration. What’s that you say? You don’t have any demons? Not true. Everyone has them.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):
“When people tell you who they are, believe them,” wrote blogger Maria Popova (www. brainpickings.org). “Just as importantly, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don’t believe them.” Those suggestions are especially crucial for you to keep in mind these days. You are entering a phase when your best relationships will be up for review and revision and revitalization. To foster an environment in which intimacy will thrive, you’ve got to be extra receptive, curious, tolerant and tender. That’s all! Not hard, right? A good place to start is to proceed as if your allies know who they are better than you do—even as you ask them to return the favor.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):
“Kludge” (pronounced klooj) is a slang word that refers to a clumsy but effective fix for an engineering problem. It’s a cobbledtogether solution that works fine, at least temporarily, even though it is inelegant or seems farfetched. Let’s use this concept in a metaphorical way to apply to you. I’m guessing that you will be a kludge master in the coming days. You will be skilled at making the best of mediocre situations. You may have surprising success at doing things that don’t come naturally, and I bet you will find unexpected ways to correct glitches that no one else has any idea about how to fix.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I hesitate
to compare you to your fellow Aquarian Kim Jong Il. When he was alive and ruling North Korea, he was an egomaniacal tyrant. You’re definitely not that. But there are certain descriptions of him in his official biography that remind me of the kinds of powers you may soon exhibit. He was called The Great Sun of Life and Highest Incarnation of the Revolutionary Comradely Love, for instance. Titles like that might suit you. It is said that he invented the hamburger. He could command rain to fall from the sky. He once shot 11 holes-in-one in a single round of golf, was a master of gliding down waterslides, and never had to use a toilet because he produced no waste. You may be able to express comparable feats in the coming weeks. (Do it without falling prey to excessive pride, OK?)
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Even if you
had a sensitive, nurturing mommy when you were growing up, and even if she continues to play an important role in your life, now would be a good time to learn how to mother yourself better. You are finally ready to appreciate how important it is to be your own primary caregiver. And I’m hoping you are no longer resistant to or embarrassed about the idea that part of you is still like a child who needs unconditional love 24-seven. So get started! Treat yourself with the expert tenderness that a crafty maternal goddess would provide.
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.
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Think
by D. Brian Burghart PHOTO/D. Brian BurgHarT
Strange brew Matt Johnson and his partners have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise enough money to help start a brewery focusing on the home brewer, community and collaboration. It’s called Imbib Custom Brews, and its the kind of thing at which Reno and its denizens have long excelled. All the details can be found at www.indiegogo.com/projects/ imbib-custom-brews-help-us-finda-home.
Tell me a little bit about what you have going. My partners [Jason Green and Bart Blank] and I are working on a brewery that engages people in the process far more than your average brewery. We’re all homebrewers, so we really want to brew beer and get it out into people’s hands in a different way. One way is a club-based model that is based on communitysupported agriculture, where somebody pays an annual fee, and they get a guaranteed quantity of beer once a month, and they also get a say in what we brew—not everything we brew, but some of the stuff that we brew. It’s a new model. There’s a few people around the country doing it, but it hasn’t really been totally tested yet. That’s one piece.
It’s probably not sustainable for three homebrew shops in Reno. Yeah, exactly.
I see it as part of the Indiegogo campaign, it includes lifetime memberships and those sorts of things. You just started that off. What made you decide that method for getting funding?
What’s another? Continuing on the theme of engaging people, we know that there’s a niche market for custom brews, for people’s weddings, events, things like that. I’ve done this many times as a home brewer— brewed a beer for a friend’s wedding. But again, we’re trying to take it to another level where we would actually provide a service where we could provide a custom brew. Part of it is like a consultation process, where you’d taste eight different beers, you’d tell us what you like. We’d get a range of beers, you’d tell us what you like about each of those, and then we’d design a recipe around that.
We have been working on this model for a little while. In a typical scenario, you would probably do the Indiegogo piece last. But we need both big and small investors. Indiegogo is obviously on the smaller side. But for us to get our brewery up and running, we have to have a physical space. Before you can even apply for a license, you’ve got to have a space. Right now we need that funding to get into a space so that we can get our licensing and really start putting out a product. We’re fearful that if we wait until some of the other funding pieces come into place, just given the competitiveness of brewing in Reno, and the buzz we’ve built at this point, that might die out pretty quickly, and so we’ve been donating beer to a lot of events as home brewers, and we just felt like there were enough people talking about it, that this was the time to strike. Ω
I suppose you’d have specialized labels for a larger event. Exactly.
I’m getting the idea. Not only the recipe, but a custom package so that it demonstrates that the event is unique in some way. Part of our model
Life on the desert So I’d been inside all day, doing bills and other assorted clerical necessities, and enough was enough. It was perfect outside, about 78, light breeze. In short, just another awesome day in Droughton. It was time to get on up in the hills of Spanish Springs east of Pyramid Highway and just walk around, move ye olde glutes and stuff, see what the heck is goin’ on and get out of this slug mode. I got on up to a familiar, lonely spot and parked on the roadside. Weather here is even nicer, if that’s possible. But boy, these hillsides, usually filled with some kind of bloom in mid-May and sometimes a really big bloom, are exhibiting all the floral charm of the Bonneville Salt Flat. Eeesh. Welcome to Parched Heights, a desiccating suburb of Droughton. Well, just because the wildflower show is gonna be skimpy is no excuse to skimp on the exercise. My walk revealed that my suspicions about a sub-par wildflower experience were pretty much spot on. It’s just one of those years where a lot of plants germinated and started OPINION
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is to really engage the home brewing community. There are a couple of home brew shops, one home brew shop that just opened up in Reno, and then there’s the existing one. We still think that we would provide supplies in some ways, but we probably wouldn’t launch a retail part of our business, just because ...
∫y Bruce Van Dye
up, but then, when they needed a few showers in late April and early May to keep things rollin’, those rains just didn’t happen. C’est la vie. But one would be wise to realize that just about every time you head on out to the desert, at least one wild thing will be discovered/happen that will truly be interesting for those with naturalist tendencies. Many times, it’s only one thing that occurs, but, if you’re paying attention, you’ll get at least that one. Obviously, any kind of natural beauty moment wasn’t gonna be supplied by wildflowers. Not today. But damned if I didn’t stumble on to … What the— well, I do believe I’ve traipsed on in to Spiderville. Strewn throughout most of this treeless, rocky hillside were dozens of webby homes, the homes of certain desert wolf spiders. There were lots of ’em. LOTS. It was pretty freakin’ cool, actually. If you’re an arachnaphobe, it would have been instantly uncool. To the max. As I’m not saddled with that phobia, though, I was instantly struck by
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the fact that, yep, here’s my interesting thing for the day. The webs were of the low to the ground variety, a small whitish blanket of 3 to 6 inches in diameter with a spiralling black hole in the center. And at the bottom of that black hole is this rather elegant, slender wolf spider, not all that big, just hangin’ out and waiting for food to get snagged. When you say someone has the patience of a spider, you’re saying something. (Then, I thought of Saddam Hussein in his spider hole.) It was quite the complex. Spiderville, indeed. Obviously, things have been going quite well in Spiderville for quite some time. I’m guessing we could say the same about many bug-based economies. Them bugs seem to do real good on an annual basis when it comes to replenishing the supply of bugs. And that’s good, since there is always a steady demand for new bugs out there in The Food Chain. Ω |
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