november
8 -1 4 ,
2018
bands together
off beat music festival See Arts&Culture, page 18
“I sat behInd a cash regIster and watched the cannabIs Industry change�
Diary of a BuDtenDer
s e rv i n g n o rt h e r n n e va d a , ta h o e a n d t r u c k e e
2 | RN&R | 11.08.18
EMAil lETTERS To RENolETTERS@NEWSREviEW.CoM.
Pink wave For whatever reason, this was the midterm election that felt like a presidential election. I know I whined about election fatigue last week, but when the day came, it felt like a momentous occasion, and I stayed up, flipping around the local news channels and refreshing election websites, waiting for Nevada’s apparentlylast-in-thenation results. I wasn’t alone in feeling that way. Here in Washoe County, the swing county in a swing state, it was the largest turnout ever for a midterm election. The excitement was partly because we had big statewide races on the ballot this year with national implications. And I’ve got to say: I never liked Adam Laxalt more than I did while watching his concession speech, which struck me as humble and sincere. Of course, it’s a lot easier to like a guy when you’re not actively worrying about the questionable decision-making he’ll bring to the governor’s office. I also enjoyed what I saw of Jacky Rosen’s victory speech, but my internet cut out in the middle of the speech. I called, and an automated voice told me that Spectrum was doing routine updates and apologized for intermittent outages—blah, blah, blah—and I guess midnight on a Tuesday isn’t the worst time to schedule something like that, but on election night? C’mon, dummies. Still, here’s a neat realization: Both of Nevada’s senators are now women. Nevada’s congressional delegation, like the Nevada Assembly, now has a female majority. And remember a couple of weeks ago when I predicted that there would be a slew of national stories about Nevadans electing a dead pimp to the state assembly? I’ve seen like eight already.
—Brad Bynum bradb@ ne wsrev i ew . com
novembeR 8, 2018 | vol. 24, Issue 39
No doubt
Bruce fan
The Washo cared more
Re “When in doubt, vote for a woman” (Left foot forward, Oct. 25): It sounds sort of sexist to me. Ms. Leslie’s advice to “When in doubt, vote for the woman” seems like a silly way to pick a candidate. There has to be a little more thought involved than picking a candidate according to what is between their legs. Stephen Bloyd Carson City
Re “His vulgarity, his ignorance” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, Oct. 25): That title caught my eye—“His vulgarity, his ignorance.” I scanned the column and my eye fell on this: “I’m sick of his lying. His bullying. His name calling. His vulgarity. His hate. His hypocrisy. His ignorance. His sneer.” “Wow!” I thought. Bruce is manfully sharing a tweet from a detractor, from a reader sick and tired of Bruce’s classless putridity! Then I awoke from the momentary daydream. Of course, it had to be all about the president. Pot, meet kettle. Brian Adams Reno
Re “On the look out” (Tahoe, Nov. 1): A decade of boat launching and inspection only proves to me that the real culprit is and will always be the white man. The day the first white man set foot at the shores of Lake Tahoe the processes of ruination started. In fact, it all began with the arrival of the first whites to set foot in the New World. (“New” only to them.) History does not lie. People tend to lie about history. So the processes continues on. Want to keep Tahoe blue? Get the hell out of there, and take your trash with you. Jim Martinez Reno
Re “When in doubt, vote for a woman” (Left foot forward, Oct. 25): The unfiltered bias, prejudice and misandry of Sheila Leslie was never more on display than in her column, “When in Doubt, Vote for a Woman.” The column’s ending says it all, when with regard to the female judges she prefers, Leslie writes, “Each has an impressive track record as a judicial leader and can be counted on to work hard and judge fairly. After all, they’re women.” The good news for any man is that you won’t have to appear before Judge Leslie in her courtroom. Her special brand of innate “female fairness” might be brought to the breaking point. Thom Waters Reno
The eternal trench mortgage Re “Four claims” (News, Oct. 25): In July 2018, Reno refinanced the Trench bonds by issuing new 40-year bonds in the amount of $245 million. The original bonds were for $185 million. Sixteen years of interest has been paid. The refinancing this year included a $20 million payment to restructure. I believe this to be the fourth financing (2002, 2004, 2008 and 2018). Was it worth it? The Caranos are happy. Mike Robinson Reno
Jessica Santina, Todd South, Luka Starmer, Bruce Van Dyke, Ashley Warren, Allison Young Our Mission: To publish great newspapers that are successful and enduring. To create a quality work environment that encourages employees to grow professionally while respecting personal welfare. To have a positive impact on our communities and make them better places to live. Editor Brad Bynum Associate Editor Jeri Chadwell News Editor Dennis Myers Special Projects Editor Matt Bieker Calendar Editor Kelley Lang Contributors Amy Alkon, Kris Vagner, Bob Grimm, Andrea Heerdt, Holly Hutchings, Shelia Leslie, Josie Glassberg, Eric Marks,
Creative Services Manager Christopher Terrazas Editorial Designers Maria Ratinova, Sarah Hansel Publications Designer Katelynn Mitrano Web Design & Strategist Elisabeth Bayard Arthur Ad Designers Naisi Thomas Sales Manager Emily Litt Office Manager Lisa Ryan RN&R Rainmaker Gina Odegard
Drive, he said Still waiting for car makers to include small solar panels and exhaust fans in their new models. No real reason to get into a sweltering, hellish hotbox only to turn on the AC, thus reducing that holy moly MPG no one cares about—yet. Waiting for Nevadans to get hep to swamp coolers which use significantly less energy to keep cool. It’s 97 out now and our house swamper is inexpensively pumping in 70 degrees. Still waiting for restaurants to add outside/rooftop solar cooked foods to their menus instead of using massive AC monster machines to cool the buildings the kitchen areas have pre-heated. We wee voices calling out for energy sanity are not as sexy as divisive political posturing perhaps, but we are still here. Once the energy crunch hits us all hard, we’re not gonna have a lot of time to play partisan. We need to lower our energy (ab)use, seriously. 2020 (projected energy climax date) is a comin’ on. Craig Bergland Reno
Advertising Consultant Myranda Thom Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager Bob Christensen Distribution Drivers Alex Barskyy, Corey Sigafoos, Gary White, Joe Wilson, O.C. Gillham, Marty Troye, Timothy Fisher, Vicki Jewell, Olga Barska, O.C. Gillham, Rosie Martinez President/CEO Jeff VonKaenel Director of Nuts & Bolts Deborah Redmond Director of People & Culture David Stogner Director of Dollars & Sense Debbie Mantoan Nuts & Bolts Ninja Norma Huerta Payroll/AP Wizard Miranda Hansen Accounts Receivable Specialist Analie Foland
Sweetdeals Coordinator Skyler Morris Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalin Jenkins N&R Publications Editor Michelle Carl N&R Publications Associate Editor Laura Hillen N&R Publications Editorial Team Anne Stokes, Caroline Harvey Marketing & Publications Consultants Steve Caruso, Joseph Engle, Elizabeth Morabito, Traci Hukill, Celeste Worden Cover Design Maria Ratinova
Contents
04 07 08 11 12 18 20 21 22 23 24 27 29 30 31 31
opiNioN/STREETAlk ShEilA lESliE NEWS TAhoE fEATuRE ARTS&CulTuRE ART of ThE STATE filM food MuSiCBEAT NighTCluBS/CASiNoS ThiS WEEk AdviCE goddESS fREE Will ASTRology 15 MiNuTES BRuCE vAN dykE
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by matt bieker
Your favorite local dispensary? askeD at bibo Coffee Company, 945 ReCoRD st.
Ryan Costello Student
No, I’m 18, so I can’t smoke.
DeepenDR a subeDi Graduate student
No. I smoke, but I don’t smoke that often. I just smoke with my friends, so maybe they know [a place] but I don’t know about it because I am not a pro in this way. I don’t buy it myself, that’s the point.
Dave y Hawkins Art teacher
No one can compete with that kind of money This year’s campaign has brought to the fore something troubling. It’s something that’s been experienced by other states, particularly California, but it’s in play in Nevada in particularly virulent form. Initiative and referendum petitions were one of the Progressive Era’s remedies to the deep rot and corruption of the Gilded Age. They allowed everyday citizens to go around their leaders and enact laws directly. Unfortunately, no income threshold exists barring its use to the wealthy. Nevada adopted the initiative and referendum in 1904, but it was rarely used until recently. Meanwhile, its profligate use by corporate interests and the wealthy in California has made the initiative petition process in that state a national joke. While that was happening, Nevada effectively limited its use to special interests. The business community and state legislators pushed through restrictions on the use of initiatives in 1958, 1962, 1972 and 1976. It now takes big money to get measures on the ballot. Here, the initiative is now controlled by those it was intended to control. Nothing showed that as much as this year. As this is written, we do not know the outcome of the ballot measures, but we do know they were mostly useless this year. Four different billionaires—Sheldon Adelson, Warren Buffett, Tom Steyer and Henry Nicholas III—used their money to work their will. Because of them, three ballot measures that the state did not need, did not want and would have been better off without went onto the ballot. Then, they were followed by a deluge of money. In the case of Question 3, Godzilla and Mothra battled each 4 | RN&R | 11.08.18
other, the public forced to do something with the unwanted choice the two monsters imposed on us. In Steyer’s case, he used his money to toy with something the state was already doing. Nicholas took his one-size-fits-all measure to state after state to replace their locally-tailored laws with his version of the same thing, wreaking havoc in some cases. Their money swamped the locals, who had no way of being heard over their expensive megaphones, who had to react to these in-our-faces loudmouths who played with the instruments of democracy like big toddlers. The rich are with us always, but there needs to be some way of preventing them from employing their wealth to make life easier for themselves at the expense of the rest of us. A carefully considered legislative evolution of utility law would have been better than either Questions 3 or 6. Watergate led to campaign finance “reforms” that gave us the system we have today, in which campaign contributions and bribes are difficult to distinguish from one another. The wonderful instruments of direct democracy adopted in the early 20th century have also degenerated into means of corruption and public-be-damned tools of big money. Initiatives may have outlived their usefulness. When the public got use of initiatives and referenda, they used them with restraint. Adelson and his cronies do not have that sense of discipline. The Nevada Legislature needs to take a close look at the process of direct democracy and, if it cannot bring some sense to it, consider taking it away from the big kids. Stop them before they initiate again. Ω
I go to Blum on Virginia Street because it’s down the street from my house. It’s just there. I’ve only been there, actually. I’ve been going there for the past couple months. I’m new to town.
Joanna Hampton Account executive
I usually go to the Dispensary. It’s on Plumb, I think. They just have a really great selection. They’ve been really helpful in explaining things whenever I go there. I’ve been going there for probably a few months.
R asHelle Debolt Teaching assistant
I like Silver State Relief. It’s close to my place, and they have nice stuff. I haven’t tried a lot of them. I’m taking a break [from smoking] because I’m applying to the FBI, and you have to be sober for three years. I’m almost a year in.
11.08.18 | RN&R | 5
Shen Yun: What A “Show” “Shen Yun” is a project that Li Hongzhi, the “Main Buddha” of the cult Falun Gong, person-
they were timid to show them.” “They came back even without daring to get off their car.”
ally supervised and hailed as “No.1 show in the world”. He touted “Shen Yun” on various
“They sneakingly threw the materials randomly in premium neighborhoods as if they were
occasions, saying that “One Shen Yun performance can save hundreds of thousands of
thieves.” (Falun Gong Followers Must Learn Its Doctrine.
lives” and that “Good performance effect, plus God’s help, is totally beyond means of human beings. ‘Truthfulness, kindness, and tolerance’ are all its energy.” And he couldn’t hail the Shen Yun performance more. “This show is out of world.” “Even God is helping it.” “It
Their sales pitch was like thieving, and “some of the tickets were sold at low prices, or even for free.” There were many “vacant seats” when the performance was put on. This was part
is the hope of the future”. At the “Washington DC Ceremony” this year, he also pledged, “I
of the “Shen Yun” show!
want to set an example for other projects. You should learn from Shen Yun.”
3. There was no audience in spite of “five advertising campaigns”
Is this “model project” supervised by the “Master” really so “good”? How did this “No.1 show in the world” look like? We’ll see.
Let’s talk about the popularity and credibility of “Shen Yun”. Li Hongzhi has always hoped to make “Shen Yun” known the mainstream society. At the “Washington DC Ceremony”
1. Reporters were asked to fill “vacant seats”
last year, Li Hongzhi requested, “I mean we need to advertise in the mainstream soci-
Li Hongzhi kept boasting that “Shen Yun offers the best performance. It is No.1 show in the
Ceremony” this year, Li Hongzhi urged the followers again, “I want you to concentrate on
world.” Falun Gong media gave large coverage about it, claiming that “The venue is always
start the ball rolling now.” However, the followers wouldn’t listen and always “hesitated”.
fully packed and the show is a blockbuster.” But was it true? At the “New York Lecture” in
So far “Shen Yun has remained unknown” in many places. Li Hongzhi said frankly, “No
2009, Li Hongzhi was embarrassed when he was asked about “vacant seats” and “dull ticket
matter how well we advertise, they are just not interested. In the Greater New York, almost
sales”. When a follower asked how he dealt with so many tickets left one or two days before
tens of millions of people watched the ad of Shen Yun five times, but they still did not
the show was begun, he reluctantly replied, “Ask the audience on the third floor to move
show up at the show in the year before last.” (“2009 International Preach Ceremony in New
down on the first floor.” And reporters were asked to “fill” those vacant seats. “Sometimes
York”) “Five advertising campaigns worked badly.” Li Hongzhi felt very shameful and very
there was little audience, but there were many reporters. It’s so scary,” he admitted. At the
distressed. Why? He figured out finally. “People wonder ... if they would like what we offer
“Washington DC Ceremony” this year, Li Hongzhi was worried about the attendance issue.
and if it is a good show. They are not sure because we are not famous.” The so-called “No.1
“We have a very high-level show, but you sell it as if it were cheap.” “Do you know how I felt
show in the world” failed to attract audience in spite of five advertising campaign, and “the
when I saw those vacant seats?”
Master” could not do anything about it. How could a show that was totally unattractive be
ety.” He also reprimanded some followers who refused to do so. At the “Washington DC
Those “vacant seats” and “dull ticket sales” became “hot potatoes” that plagued “Shen Yun”. If they lowered the price, “Shen Yun” would become cheap goods and earn no “reputation”; if they did not, the vacant seats vividly contradicted to what they called “blockbuster”. It
claimed as “No.1 show in the world”?
4. “Humiliated” audience wanted their money back
seemed that asking reporters to “fill” the vacant seats was also part of the Shen Yun “show”.
The “Shen Yun” show management was awful. Some of the audience left halfway, while
2. Doing “ticket promotion” felt like being a thief
during his “preaching” confirmed this. “When you really lower the price, you will suffer the
For the “Shen Yun” performance, trying to sell the tickets was a headache. Li Hongzhi once asserted to his followers, “Ticket sales reflect the true pictures of your training accomplishment and cooperation.” He tried to put the sales pressure on the followers in the name of “helping the master preach”. In order to sell tickets, he “called on all the followers of Falun Gong” and tried to persuade them that selling tickets was “saving people”. “You contribute to the life-saving cause of Shen Yun. This is certain. That will make you prestigious and moral.” However, the followers refused to buy it. They were not interested in selling those tickets and responded passively. “In some places, the followers tried to attract some learners, but they all did it in their own way without collaborating with each other.” “In some places, bad people rocked the boat. In other places, the followers tried to hide their sales like a thief, fearing that they should be caught by spies...” (“2009 International Preach
others exclaimed to have their money back. A few examples that Li Hongzhi disclosed consequences. For example, when a person who bought the most expensive ticket heard that someone next to him bought the ticket at fairly good discount, he was so angry that he had a big fight with the theater manager. “Once our followers asked the audience to move from the third floor to the first floor before the performance was begun, and those sitting in the best seats on the first floor were angry and asked for a refund from the manager. They were irritated by the movement of those from the upstairs and felt humiliated.” (“2009 International Preach Ceremony in New York”) Even the audience who had watched the “Shen Yun” performance without any accident felt frustrated, calling it “a mere crude advertisement of Falun Gong”. It was totally shameless for the cult followers to claim such a messy and low-grade show as “No.1 show in the world”! What a show it was under the supervision of the so-called “Main Buddha”!
Ceremony in New York”) “When they came to good neighborhoods, materials in hand,
A PAid AdvertiSement
6 | RN&R | 11.08.18
by SHEILA LESLIE
Now, back to governing My deadline prevents me from writing about this week’s election, but no matter the results, it’s time for the winners to move beyond campaign promises and prepare to govern. Nevada’s late state Senator Bill Raggio was a master at behind the scenes maneuvers to benefit his party and patrons. He certainly did all he could to ensure the Republican party controlled the state Senate, masterfully gerrymandering districts in Washoe County to produce three safe Republican seats, leaving just one for the Democrats, despite the closeness of voter registration. But he often chastised legislators of both parties for attacking each other outside of the campaign cycle, saying, “The campaign’s over. It’s time to get things done.” As the Tea Party grew more powerful, Raggio became increasingly isolated, rejected by younger Republican senators who were willing to jettison his wisdom and experience for a political philosophy that devalued across the aisle collaboration and instead, favored constant confrontation.
During Governor Sandoval’s tenure, supported by the leadership of Chief of Staff Mike Willden, there were several meaningful bi-partisan initiatives that succeeded, the expansion of Medicaid and full-day kindergarten. Both policies were long-supported by Democrats, who proved willing to work with the covernor when he showed interest in adopting these concepts as his own. Nevada is better for it. Regardless of who leads Nevada in 2019, there is one policy area that seems ripe for the same consideration, the diversion of those suffering from mental health issues from the criminal justice system. There has been a quiet revolution over the past decade in how law enforcement officials view this concern, with growing recognition by chiefs and sheriffs that incarceration of those living with a severe mental illness doesn’t usually change behavior and, in fact, often makes things worse. Programs like the mental health court and assisted outpatient treatment have achieved incredible savings in jail days
and associated law enforcement, prosecution, defense and court costs. Recidivism decreases sharply when diverted clients are provided with affordable housing and wraparound services, including medication and case management. When law enforcement officers are provided with crisis intervention team (CIT) training, there are fewer violent incidents in the jail and fewer law suits. And when mentally ill people access consistent high-quality treatment, the results can be miraculous. The Washoe Regional Behavioral Health Policy Board will be advocating for the creation of crisis stabilization centers (CBCs) in 2019 to immediately address mental health and/or substance use problems and prevent escalation to an acute crisis, such as suicide or incarceration, by providing effective support and treatment to improve symptoms of distress. These services include 23-hour crisis stabilization/ observation beds, medical detox, short-term crisis residential services and crisis stabilization, mobile crisis services, 24/7 crisis
hotlines, warm lines, psychiatric advance directives, and peer crisis services. To be effective, the CBCs must also be able to connect clients to communitybased residential care, ongoing intensive outpatient treatment and affordable housing, services often in short supply in Nevada. Our new political leaders must overhaul our mental health system, starting with the community-based living arrangement homes which were in the news again last week due to a scandalous audit showing about $1.5 million in overpayments to the same private for-profit operators which a January audit determined were housing severely mentally ill Nevadans in “filthy” and “unsafe” conditions. Nevada desperately needs a new housing model for this vulnerable population using non-profit organizations or state staff. We need our elected officials to demonstrate interest in mental health and support new approaches. The campaign’s over. Let’s get to work. Ω
11.08.18 | RN&R | 7
by Dennis Myers
Nevada went through 900,000 “I Voted” stickers this year. Introduced in 1988 by Secretary of State Frankie Sue Del Papa, the cost of the first stickers was covered by contributions from Nevada businesses. Voters have now come to expect their stickers. This year, Washoe added the county seal as a bureaubureau cratic touch, but fortunately, it was nearly invisible.
Tragedy prompTs emmys The Las Vegas concert killings have resulted in two news/documentary Emmy awards. Univision’s Aquí y Ahora (Here and Now) program won the award in the category of outstanding coverage of a breaking news story in Spanish for “Terror en Las Vegas.” In addition, the New York Times won in the category of outstanding new approaches to current news for its online video, “10 Minutes. 12 Gunfire Bursts. 30 Videos.”
PHOTO/DENNIS MYERS
KaepernicK joined TradiTion University of Nevada, Reno alum Colin Kaepernick was drawn into a U.S. House election in Minnesota this year, where Democratic candidate and Iraq war veteran Jim Feehan was accused of being a Kaepernick sympathizer. Kaepernick was also inducted last weekend into his Pitman High School Hall of Fame in Turlock, California. Kaepernick has been compared to a variety of figures both as a player and as a political activist. History provides precedents that make clear his protests stand in a modern sports tradition. On Sept. 16, 1960, at a game against the Kansas City A’s, Cleveland Indians pitcher James “Mudcat” Grant altered the last lines of the first verse of the national anthem (“For the land of the free/And the home of the brave”) as he sang, to protest the conditions that were familiar to Grant—“This land ain’t so free/I can’t even go to Mississippi.” Indians pitching coach Ted Wilks, who was known to throw at black players, snarled at Grant, “If you don’t like it here, why don’t you get, nigger?” A livid Grant walked out of the park and was suspended without pay for the rest of the season. “I’m sick of hearing remarks about colored people,” he said. “I don’t have to stand there and take it.” Grant has been interviewed more than once since Kaepernick began his protest but has not commented on the younger man. Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who trained at Lake Tahoe for the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City, were expelled from the games after they medaled—gold and silver in the 200-meter run— and stood with upraised fists and bowed heads during the “Star Spangled Banner.” The United States Olympic Committee did not stand behind the two men, expelling them under pressure from International Olympic Committee President Avery Brundage. Other athletes, including George Foreman, then took up on-the-field protests in their absence. Though vilified at the time, there is now a sculpture of the two men in San Jose. Last year, Carlos described Kaepernick as “a sacrificial lamb today. These young individuals, they’re the fruit of our labor. If they thought we were bad 50 years ago, in terms of expressing ourselves, just wait. They got a lot more to come with these young black kids in America today.” The two met in November last year.
—Dennis Myers
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At last Campaign ends with clear messages if there is doubt in other states about the public’s feelings toward Donald Trump—and that’s unlikely now—there is none in Nevada. A state that voted for Hillary Clinton two years ago reemphasized that stance again by giving every statewide office but one and both houses of the Nevada Legislature to the Democratic Party—and the Nevada Assembly to women. Republicans running for U.S. Senate and governor were given their walking papers. Even Republican incumbent Mark Amodei, running from a supposedly safe Republican U.S. House district in northern Nevada, was pressed hard by unknown Clint Koble, who came within 2.2 percent of beating Amodei. Washoe County, the home of moderate Republicanism, did little to stand in the way of the Democrats. Candidates who tried to emulate Trump’s “success” received forceful reminders that the public voted against him, and there are no presidential
electors in county commission and state legislative races to bail out losers. The closeness of the U.S. Senate race all summer meant that many elsewhere were watching Nevada. It led to some bad information on the state. There was the usual local chauvinism in news. While the Las Vegas office of Associated Press reported “Nevada could be the Democrats’ best chance of taking the majority in the U.S. Senate,” CNN carried a report titled “Democrats’ Senate hopes may hang on Missouri,” Reuters found that “Control of U.S. Senate may hinge on possible Mississippi runoff,” and WTVJ News in Miami reported, “Floridians could help determine control of the U.S. Senate.” One piece with the arresting title “How to Win Nevada” ran on Politico, but its premises were dubious. At one point, the author, Arizona reporter Dan Hernandez, wrote, “The Democrats’ sweeping [2016] victory in Nevada proved to be an outlier nationally.” He didn’t explain what he meant by that, but the context was his discussion of
Hillary Clinton’s Nevada win. Clinton beat Trump in Nevada by 2.4 percent— and nationally by 2.1 percent, so Nevada hardly seems like an outlying state. It was right in the mainstream. Hernandez also wrote, “And it takes more than a strong performance in Las Vegas for a Democrat to win Nevada” just after he explained how Catherine Cortez Masto was elected to the Senate while losing 16 out of 17 jurisdictions. Harry Reid, in showing this reporter some housing start figures on Clark County, once said “And people wonder how I won by carrying one county.” Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Jacky Rosen managed to stay even and even pass Heller in raising money. On Oct. 27, Rosen sent out fundraising email messages to her mailing list at 4:44 a.m., 5:58 a.m., 7:20 a.m., 8:08 a.m., 8:42 a.m., 10:04 a.m., 11:17 a.m., 11:46 a.m., 1:54 p.m., 3:19 p.m., 4:42 p.m., 6:03 p.m. and 7:21 p.m. That was a fairly typical day. (At 4:39 a.m. on election day, she sent out a message reading in part, “Can I count on you to pitch in just $1 one last time?”) But what was less certain was whether the independent committees supporting Rosen could compete with the independent committees supporting Heller. The New York Times took one poll in Nevada this year that it posted while it was being taken, from Oct. 8 to Oct. 10. Over the three days of the survey, results were posted as they were received, so readers could actually see the fluctuations in the race on a flow chart hour by hour. Every time a voter was added to the sample, the result was posted. The race was so close that four times—twice on Oct. 8, twice on Oct. 9—the survey drifted briefly into Rosen majorities on the chart, then back to Heller again. It ended at 47 percent Heller, 45 Rosen, 7 undecided. It was that close. For Rosen’s campaign and Democrats generally, it was a jolt when that Times survey showed Rosen with just a one point lead among women. Almost as bad, she had only 52 percent among Latinos, a group that has bailed out other Democrats in the past. Then, toward the end, Heller started opening up a lead, one survey showing him seven points ahead.
by DEnnis MyERs
Then on Nov. 5—the day before election—Rosen suddenly jumped out to a four point lead over Heller. After she nursed a tie all summer long, was this a polling anomaly or did this many people really wait until the end to make up their minds? If there was a single figure in this election who was a surrogate for Trump, it was probably Dean Heller. In October 2016, Heller said he was “99 percent against” Trump, and during Trump’s administration, Heller initially voted against him on the Affordable Care Act. On July 19, 2017, Trump publicly threatened Heller if he didn’t fall in line. Heller apparently took the threat seriously, and soon he was voting as Trump wanted. Trump campaigned for Heller this year, though late in the campaign there were reports that the senator asked Trump to stop coming to Nevada.
What does it mean? Democrats have a habit of winning big victories and then starting to lose them two years later. In 1992 and 2008, the Democrats controlled the presidency and both houses of Congress, and in both cases that primacy lasted for only two years. If members of either party are reading the 2018 results as satisfaction with the political status quo, that was not the reaction we got in speaking with Nevadans after they voted during early voting. Both
Republicans and Democrats seemed to be saying they are tired of a political party system. One Washoe Republican said he nearly didn’t vote at all because of what he called “today’s social conservatives … They’re the real RINOs” (Republicans in name only). He said he recalls the days when Ronald Reagan and Paul Laxalt were adjacent governors and both raised taxes, as Reagan did repeatedly as president. “That’s what a good fiscal conservative does to keep the books in balance,” he said. He also said today Paul Laxalt and Reagan could probably not survive a GOP primary because of “social conservative purists.” Democrats were similarly exasperated with their party, some saying that 2018 is a last chance to make the party work. “I’m ready to start circulating petitions to get the Greens on the ballot,” said one. The Green Party was on the Nevada ballot from 1996 to 2008. “The Democrats didn’t repeal school choice last year after promising to,” she said. “They just defunded it. That’s not the same thing. It’s still out there waiting, like a snake. … The Democrats need to stop pussy-footing on their own policies.” One voter told us the Democrats cannot continue “campaigning left and governing right.” Ω
Vigil
Hundreds of mourners gathered for a candlelight vigil on Oct. 30 at Reno’s Temple Emanu-El to honor the people murdered in the Oct. 27 attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. PHOTO/BRAD BYNUM
More sagebrush terrain to become urban Late last year, a huge chunk of land in Last year, when Berns wrote Storey County was purchased in the an article, “Why I’m Fighting the same general region as the Tahoe-Reno IRS’s Bitcoin Privacy Invasion” for Industrial Center (TRIC) by blockchain CoinDesk, it identified him only as “a figures David and Jeffrey Berns. People bitcoin user, Coinbase customer and a have been speculating every since on managing partner at multi-specialty law what will happen to it. firm Berns Weiss LLP.” While no exact figure has been given At the BernsWeiss site, Berns is for the size of the land purchase, it is described this way: “Over the course widely reported to be about 100 square of his 25-year legal career, he has tenamiles. For comparison, Reno is 105.9 ciously fought for the rights of consumsquare miles. ers, concentrating his practice on One site, Trustnodes, reported, “The consumer lending and consumer fraud only named functioning subsidiary of class actions. ... Jeffrey is a co-founder Berns Inc. is EthNews, a media site of the firm’s virtual currency practice focused on the ethereum ecosystem group. Additionally, he is the founder that seemingly came out of nowhere and President of Berns, Inc., a and appears to have corporate connecblockchain-focused start-up that opertions. Only 150 acres, out of the 64,000 ates a software development studio bought, will be used to build a campus and a media division that focuses for the company. What the rest will be on the advancement and adoption of used for remains unclear.” The only blockchain technology.” information available on Berns’ plans As with Tesla and other firms, for the land until last Sunday were on Nevada officials have rushed to meet videos posted at www.blockchains.com, Berns’ demands. The Storey County a non-textual site. Then, on Sunday, Commission has issued approval the New York Times reported for a new town on the river, a on a tour of the land taken by and Gov. Brian Sandoval project of reporter Nathaniel Popper, has issued some kind of conducted by Jeffrey Berns. some kind is proclamation for Berns. The “[Berns] imagines a sort of rapid pace of approval for an coming. experimental community spread undefined project prompted over about a hundred square miles, Popper to include in his report where houses, schools, commercial the warning, “There is a fuzzy line districts, and production studios will be between these utopian visions and getbuilt. The centerpiece of this giant project rich-quick schemes. Several cryptocurwill be the blockchain, a new kind of rency projects have been shut down database that was introduced by Bitcoin.” by regulators; apparent hucksters have (A blockchain is a digital ledger used been arrested; and a plan to transform to record transactions that roll across Puerto Rico with cryptocurrencies has computers, so that the record created been criticized as nothing more than cannot be changed or doctored without a bid to take advantage of the island’s altering all the later blocks in the chain.) status as a tax haven.” That’s still not terribly definitive. TRIC has been the beneficiary of A LinkedIn post reads, “Blockchains, Sandoval’s permissive, laissez faire LLC will be joining the likes of Tesla, policies that featured, for Tesla, what Google, and Switch in calling the is believed to be the largest corporate Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, the largest welfare package for a single corporation industrial park in the world, home. When in human history. completed, our corporate campus will The term “utopia” shows up in these consist of over 300,000 square feet and arrangements frequently enough that it is we expect to employ over 1,000 individuuseful to point out that near the Berns site als by 2021.” in Churchill County in 1916, there was a “But he is different from his cryptoutopian colony called Nevada City that brethren in one big way: He is spending was affiliated with southern California’s his own money,” Popper wrote. “So far, Llano del Rio colony. Nevada City lasted he said, he has spent $300 million on three years. Ω the land, offices, planning, and a staff of 70 people.”
..
11.08.18 | RN&R | 9
Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful is a 501( c ) 3 nonprofit dedicated to creating a cleaner, more beautiful region through active community involvement and education.
BATTERIES-Rechargeable
Recycling Guide Find out where to recycle or properly dispose of unwanted items in the Truckee Meadows. Businesses may charge for disposal services or will only take commercial customers. Please call individual businesses for details. Visit us at
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ANTIFREEZE 2237 Waste Management Lockwood Landfill 342-0401
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PRESCRIPTION DRUGS Reno Police Dept. 334-2175 Sparks Police Dept. 353-2428
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10 | RN&R | 11.08.18
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tahoe
by JerI CHadwell
j e ri c @ne w s re v i e w . c o m
Jude Bischoff poses with his dog Fly while plein air painting. “He does most of the painting. I just give him pointers,” Bischoff said. COURTESY/JUDE BISCHOFF
Taking shapes Jude Bischoff Painter Jude Bischoff once carried a 3-by-4-foot canvas for miles along the Lake Tahoe Flume Trail to reach a site where he wanted to paint. “I carried it five miles, and that’s a real chore—just to get to the site,” he said. “And then a peregrine falcon actually landed on the rock near me while I was working on the painting, and I got photos of it and then put that in the painting.” Bischoff, who grew up in Ohio and attended Bowling Green State University, has been painting scenes of the Sierra for decades. He moved to California in the ’80s after receiving an art degree but worked in real estate while raising his family. “I stopped painting for about 10 years and didn’t start again until 1995,” he said. “Life has changes to it. You’ve got to adapt—and when you have a family, that’s the priority.” About 10 years ago, with his children grown and the housing crisis at its height, Bischoff left real estate to paint full-time and settled near Grass Valley, California. Today, he makes his living selling renderings of natural scenes done in bright, thickly textured oil paints. Dynamic, repeating shapes in the details of leaves or riffles of water create a sense of measured movement in Bischoff’s paintings—distracting, at least temporarily, from the large animal silhouettes within which entire landscape scenes are often painted.
“What I do is start with the shape of the bear—or whatever I’m painting—and then I go out into nature and just start painting and putting in the landscape and capturing the energy and rhythm of where I am,” Bischoff said. “I repeat shapes; I paint in every leaf and every pine needle, and as I repeat those shapes, it sets up the rhythm of the piece—the same kind of rhythm you find in music or nature.” When a painting is done, Bischoff said, “that rhythm emanates off the piece and spreads that love into the environment.” Many of his animal subjects are the ones he encounters in the wild. “It’s a lot of bears,” he said. “In fact, when we pulled into our front yard the other day, there was a bear. Of course, they don’t stick around long to pose.” Bischoff sometimes also meets his patrons out in the wild—people who enjoy the same vistas and wildlife that draw him to the Sierra to paint. That’s how he met art collector and RN&R contributor Terra Breeden. “We were camping at Buckeye Hot Springs,” Bischoff said. “I walked by her and her boyfriend with a canvas. She saw there was a bear drawn on it. She thought I was going to target shoot at it. Then she saw it was a painting, and she got really excited—and so we became friends right then.” When winter sets in, Bischoff will turn his attention to another project he’s working on, a series of paintings called “Flow.” “I’m laying paintings on the ground and pouring acrylics on them and getting a really interesting background developed before putting in animals,” he said. Work on the series will carry him through the winter months, allowing him to work indoors. But once the snows melt again, he’ll be back to capturing scenes out in nature. “I’ve been out here since ’82—but one day I was on the Flume Trail, and I just got all teared up,” Bischoff said. “If I had never left Ohio, I’d have never seen this. And it’s just so spectacular.” Ω Learn more about Jude Bischoff’s art here: judebischoff.com.
11.08.18 | RN&R | 11
by Jordan Gearey
The beginning
I was working a relatively boring job as a clerk in an attorney’s office that specialized in estate planning. The job paid OK, and with the nickeland-diming I was doing providing bud to my friends and classmates, I was able to pay for my own place and get through school. But as I was sitting in the haze of my own living room hotbox, I watched a local news report that the ballot measure had passed to legalize recreational weed. I took a drag off May 20, 2017, I was the spliff in my hand and pondered hired by Blüm Reno the future of my own “black market” as a budtender. At the profits. (The term “black market” time, Blüm was still implies something so much more just a medicinal dispensary, serving threatening than it actually is. Some cannabis product to people with folks imagine a wordless exchange prescriptions for varying ailments, on the street corner between two but in under two months, the store hooded figures, when in reality location would turn into a recreational it’s most likely a goofy but wellpot shop, serving citizens 21 years of meaning kid, who, although born age or older. From June to the end of and raised in Reno, dresses like August, I sat behind a cash register he was a member of the Lords of and watched the cannabis industry Dogtown.) change drastically in one chaotic I wasn’t a veteran in the game summer. by any means. The consequences of
“i saT behind a cash regisTer and waTched The cannabis indusTry change”
On this story was originally produced as a class project at the University of nevada, reno and published by our town reno. 12 | RN&R | 11.08.18
Photo/Jordan Gearey
Diary of a BuDtenDer
smoking and drinking were pretty blatantly laid out for me by my parents when I started to come into my teenage years. I was too terrified and intimidated by anything that had to do with partying in high school to partake. But this little late bloomer grew into a fully-grown individual with a passion to smoke that sweet, sweet bud. However, my beautiful world of self-expression and individuality was juxtaposed against my family’s collective concern for my well-being. If you’re young and stoney like myself, then you may understand the battle with overbearance from a well-intentioned family. It’s one of those first-world problems that we lower-middle class millennials are subjected to. Thankfully, my grandmother chose the right side of history and embraced my righteous reggae rituals with entertained enthusiasm. She even went so far as to connect me with one of her friends who had just been hired on as administrative personnel for a dispensary in midtown Reno. That friend was able to set me up with a brief interview
and eventually a job as a budtender. Sweet old grandma had made sure that I was going to be directly involved with a historic change in our biggest little society. I was to report for two days of training. Racked with nerves and eager to prove myself, I sat down in a small conference room with eight other friendly faces. A couple of the new hires had worked in the industry before, so they were able to guide the discussion as we moved through our two-day syllabus. The rest of us were subject to a massive amount of new information. We covered the basics of strains, parts of the plant and the chemical compounds that did the lord’s work inside our brains. For an industry that devotes institutions of higher learning—no pun intended—to teach curriculums about this subject matter, I had a pretty overwhelming two days of training. (Oaksterdam University in Oakland, California offers 14-week courses to master cannabis business and horticulture. Have you ever forgotten to take a half ounce out of your backpack before you went to
sit down in a psychology lecture? Don’t have to worry about that at Oaksterdam. Your half-ounce of stench is like farting in Bangkok. You’re not going to alter that overwhelming aroma.)
recreatIonal sales hIt reno In the spring, the new hires spent a couple of weeks shadowing budtenders who had been employed at the dispensary for almost a year. For limited weekly hours, we learned all about the flow of the job—the exchanges with customers, the computer point-of-sale systems and even the nightly chores to keep the shop clean. Medical customers would shuffle in here and there, eager to fill their prescriptions. Some would be fun-loving adults who would tell you what a bright spot in their day it would be to stop by our little store. Others would be very quiet and reserved, just hoping to ease whatever tensions, physical or mental, that were bothering their day to day routine. But on the stroke of midnight on July 1, the lines grew around the block. The anticipation and nervousness of the dispensary staff turned into focused pandemonium. All new personnel, who had been shadowing for only two and a half weeks, were now operating one of 10 registers on the floor. The lobby outside was packed with people who had been waiting up to three hours to get inside and marvel at the selections. Sitting in a room with nine other budtenders having simultaneous conversations with at least one patient at a time meant over 20 voices would fill the small space. I was almost shouting at times and went hoarse within the week. Regulations prohibits windows looking into the storeroom to protect privacy, and maybe the innocence of children, so there would also be no sunlight for most of eight-hour shifts and the plenty of overtime we were working. It was hard work, but we loved every minute of it. My managers would rent hotel rooms close to the store, so they could get a couple hours of sleep before going right back to counting money and finding weed to sell.
We were all giving the whole of our beings to this one cause. To get the city of Reno high as hell. It felt like we were at the center of the world—the loyal disciples of the first summer of legal weed in Reno. I never smoked at work. I felt like I could sell and count faster when I was sober. My sales numbers were great, and my drawer was always spot on at the end of the night. Some of the budtenders would have really longwinded and genuine conversations with their customers, but not me. Our supervisors encouraged us to shorten the amount of time it took to make a sale so that we could reduce wait times for customers in the lobby. Quicker transactions and shorter wait times meant larger profits. I hit my rhythm and moved weight like a firesale. The conversations became repetitive as I developed a method to the seemingly never-ending madness. The quiet and pleasant atmosphere of our June training could not have been any further in the past when the onslaught of July recreational cannabis users flooded our lobby and extended about two blocks down the street.
a state of emergency When Question 2 was originally written up for the 2016 ballot in Nevada, it was understood that alcohol wholesalers in the state were to be given the rights of distribution from medical grow operations to retail storefronts. So, when the Department of Taxation agreed to give licenses directly to those grow operations and cut the alcohol wholesalers out of the middle, they were met with a lawsuit and an injunction. Only alcohol wholesalers were to be allowed to distribute the product. Of the seven applications turned in for distribution licenses by alcohol wholesalers, only two succeeded. The other five turned in incomplete applications. With sales exceeding expectations, we were running out of product and running out of people to deliver more. Customers began to get angry, and prices kept spiking. A lot of people thought that we could go out of business and lose our jobs, as the market seemed to be about to explode. But Governor Brian
Sandoval saved the state’s weed stash by declaring a “state of emergency.” Licenses were to be given to the growers, and the city would have its weed once again. Although the problem seemed solved, the stress of the alcohol wholesalers appealing their lawsuit to the Nevada Supreme Court remained. We were selling weed with a bit more comfort at the thought of our own job security.
the owner of the shop and a whole lot more Business carried on into the late summer, and our great success in midtown was not to go unrewarded. The owner of our store, and four others under the same flag in Oakland and Las Vegas, was throwing a party at her hilltop house in West Reno, and rumor had it that a special musical guest was going to show up. We were all bursting with curiosity. Our managers knew, but they kept it close. We couldn’t get a word out of them. All they would give us were hints at the magnitude of the fame of whoever was coming. Apparently the owner of our franchise and sister stores threw a party just like this one last year and was able to get John Legend to perform in her dining room. Another manager said that she told Jay-Z to “name his price” for a half hour performance at her Reno home, but Jay referred her to his “no private house party rule.” She was something of an urban myth around the store. She’s a German immigrant who is thought to be around her 70s but seems to have enough plastic surgery in her medical file to pass for her early 50s. Her Facebook page is filled with photos of her sporting large assault rifles and practicing Olympic power lifts in a gymnasium. She’s written a semi-autobiographical novel where she hints that she was at one time carrying Elvis Presley’s love child. The only time I ever saw her was when she was convening with my managers in the main office of the dispensary. I would come in to ask a question of my managers and be petrified by both her electric blue
It was hard to argue agaInst the Idea that amIdst the hectIc legalIzatIon of recreatIonal cannabIs, medIcal patIents were somewhat fallIng Into the creases.
eyes and her torpedo-shaped, braless, fake breasts. We were all in awe of her and couldn’t wait to find out who she had hired to perform at her backyard party. We all got our invites with dress code and address. As the date drew closer, Snoop Dogg’s name grew louder around the store. The Doggfather of West Coast kush himself was rumored to be the headliner. What do we say if we meet Snoop? Are we going to smoke together? Do I trust myself to keep my composure in front of the most high? But any illusion of a chill kickback and some one-on-one time with Snoop was proved wrong by a well maintained backyard filled with business suits. I don’t intend to complain at all about the owner’s hospitality. The
“diary of a budtender” continued on page 14
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“diary of a budtender”
backyard stood high on top of an insane view of the city, with all of the liquor and hors d’oeuvres that a kid could eat continued from page 13 and drink. There was even a blunt rolling station, where employees of the Oakland store rolled Backwood Cigars filled with Blue Dream for the party goers. (Blue Dream is a classic strain—a sativa, or head high, for the rookie smokers. The pine-scented, dense bud with orange hairs can’t be mistaken. It was a favorite of my high school graduating class, in fact.) They were tremendous at it. A few kids from Oakland rolled for hours as tall, white businessmen in expensive suits hopped into the front of the line to ask for three of the Russian Cream flavored. The show started, and Snoop Dogg took center stage with a couple of friends. He was a mere 10 feet away from us. He played all of the crowd favorites as my co-workers swayed back and forth amidst the strong clouds of smoke. Everyone seemed to have a blunt in one hand, and their phone in the other. People had to make sure this moment wasn’t going to be lost to time. It
14 | RN&R | 11.08.18
had to be put on news feeds for the world to see. It’s not every day you get to see Snoop Dogg in someone’s backyard. It may have been a pretentious sort of thought, or a genuine moment of internal disagreement, but something felt wrong. I slowly backed out of the silent and intoxicated crowd and wandered over to the blunt-rolling station. The kids from Oakland were still there. They were arguing with a man who wanted them to roll him another blunt. They had been rolling all night, and they just wanted to go see the show, but this gentleman wanted his complimentary blunt rolled immediately. I left feeling a little uneasy—and guilty—as I usually do after a night of indulgence. However, the Irish Goodbye saved me from a permafried party, and I caught an Uber back home, thinking all the way about how much the feeling of this job had changed. I began as one humble stoner among many, just hoping to help people feel better, but after that evening I saw just how full people’s pockets were becoming.
The end During the following couple of weeks, work began to feel different to me. I wasn’t feeling that same rhythm and
magic that I had initially. Long-time medical patients of the store were becoming increasingly aggravated at the difficulty they were having with the enormous flow of recreational customers. They complained that their medical needs were not being prioritized over the recreational needs of the massive amounts of new customers. Budtenders would get screamed at by people with serious ailments because they had somehow been mistreated or given the wrong product. It was hard to argue against the idea that amidst the hectic legalization of recreational cannabis, medical patients were somewhat falling into the creases. Some people with serious ailments weren’t even finding the answer in cannabis. Some complained that they felt like the large doses that they were taking were actually making them intensely depressed. Most people were still happy and told me miracle stories about how I had changed their lives. People were grateful for my help. But despite the encouraging words from those customers, I still knew that I was a long way from any real knowledge about these people and their bodies. I knew I was nowhere near qualified enough to be giving them some of the information that I was told to give them.
When I brought this up tentatively to my managers, I was told not to worry and that I was doing a great job. My drawer was always on count, and I was outselling the rest of the team, but I knew sales was not a calling that sat right in my soul. I quit the job and quit smoking weed for about three months or so. Since leaving, I only recognize a couple of familiar faces in the store when I go back to buy product. Almost everyone I know from the group of new hires that I trained with are gone—either from quitting like myself, or from being fired for different reasons, depending on who you talk to. The job turnover could be attributed to a few different things, but, after talking to numerous ex-employees, the feeling is that the dispensary has changed internally—and not for the better. The impact of my time felt real and was real to so many people—but, after experiencing the lavish parties, the upset medical patients and the disgruntled ex-employees, it’s hard to see past the underlying truth: In a capitalist American market, money is king. Money comes first. The patients and people will hopefully remain a close second. Ω
IN THEIR HONOR Every year for Veterans Day, the RN&R publishes a special section in the paper as a tribute to veterans. For each ad sold in this special section, RN&R donates to a cause that supports veterans. This year the recipient will be Veterans Guest House. The Veterans Guest House provides United States military service veterans and their families temporary lodging while receiving treatment at a medical facility in the Reno-Sparks area. The House is located at 880 Locust Street in Reno, just north of the VA Medical Center and centrally located to all healthcare facilities in the Reno-Sparks area. Over the past 24 years, the Veterans Guest House has provided over 80,000 guest nights of lodging for veterans and family members. The Guest House is a Nevada 501(c)3 non-profit organization supported entirely by private donations. Guests are asked to donate to defray operating expenses, but no one is ever turned away for inability to contribute.
Learn more at www.veteransguesthouse.org or call 775-324-6958.
Thank YOU for Your Service!
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11.08.18 | RN&R | 15
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Mark McKinnon tells us how he thanks veterans for their service. What is Free Tattoo Day and how did it start? It started when my nephew Robbie, who joined the marines, asked me if I was going to do something special for veterans when I started the studio. I am extremely proud of my nephew and I told him, absolutely! The first year we did two separate events, one for active duty and one for retired. We decided to combine it and do one full free day of tattooing for all of them. To answer the what it is part, I’d have to say that it’s a day that we set aside to do something cool for people who sign their names on a line for us and this country. I know that giving away free tattoos isn’t the greatest thing we can do but it’s who we are and what we can give back. I’d love to have the money to buy everyone houses, or make sure they had proper medical care. But I don’t. I’m a tattoo artist and this is what I can give. Everyone involved knows this day is about the Veterans and it’s our time to give back in this small way to them. This day isn’t really about Marked Studios if I had a goal for this event it would be that every good artist around the area would gather into one big place and do free tattoos for vets. If we all got together, we could get everyone done every year. Unfortunately, we can only accommodate so many in a day and many don’t get the chance to get one done because the line and wait are too big.
Who helps to make Free Tattoo Day possible?
Event will start at 9am on Sunday, November 11th
Oh man, where do I start. Obviously the artists who give themselves entirely over to this day. Not only Marked studios artists but we have several others from local studios give up a day to do this with us. Sean from Hooligans Ink in Carson, Boomie with Little Bird, JoJo Miller from Needle Peak in Tahoe, Nerm with Can I Play With Madness, And several more. Then we can go to the local food trucks who come out and spend the day with us too, Liberty Food Group, Slater’s Ding-A-Winga and Scottacos, Swill Coffee gives much needed beverages every year too! We have Amplified entertainment doing music. ALT 92.1 doing a live on location and Veteran Claims Consultation who offer Veteran support.
Also, let’s not forget the unsung heroes Shamrock Services, who installs the portable bathrooms. There are a ton of volunteers who go out of their way each year to help with clean up, set up, stencil prep and shaving. The support we have is tremendous.
Who does Free Tattoo Day help? Free tattoo day helps all active duty and honorably retired veterans from wherever they may be. Not just locals. We have people fly in just for this event. I also believe this helps us as the people who give back. We set out to bless the veterans but in turn, we are the ones who end up being extremely blessed.
When and how can Veteran's get a free tattoo? This event is always on actual Veteran’s Day, November 11th, no matter what day it falls on. We start at 9am and we go until we can’t go anymore. How do you get one? Well... come and get in line. Last year people were camped out at midnight waiting in their spot. It gets pretty intense, so show up and show up early. Some people wait 8 plus hours to get their tattoo done. We offer what we call Custom Flash, each artist designs 20-25 pieces of custom art. We number those pieces and when a design is chosen, it’s taken off the table. No one else can choose that design. This way no one is getting the same tattoo. It’s pretty cool!
How can the community help to support your event? Just come out to show support! Even though you’re not getting a tattoo, doesn’t mean you can’t come and hang out. It’s always a fun event, with music and lots of fun. The more people that just come to hang out, the better the event gets and the bigger it becomes so that we can offer more regular things for families to do. Food music and fun... what’s better?
11.08.18 | RN&R | 17
Photos courtesy of off beat music festival
Off Beat Music Festival returns to reno’s streets for a weekend of local and visiting music
The Seshen performed at the Saint during last year’s festival.
Singer Alexis Young took to the stage during Off Beat 2017.
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Lalin St. Juste of the Seshen and her bandmates played last year’s Off Beat Music Festival.
D
uring Reno band Failure Machine’s performance at last year’s Off Beat Music Festival, attendees packed Pignic Pub & Patio to the point of people hanging out the open windows. In fact, when front man Spencer Kilpatrick stepped out to get some air before his set, he almost didn’t make it back in to play. “Last year at Pignic got real rowdy,” Kilpatrick said. “I had to have one of my buddies step out. So, you know—one in, one out.” Failure Machine will return for the fourth Off Beat Music Festival this year, and Kilpatrick is one of the organizers. Taking place from Nov. 8 through 10 and occupying dozens of venues with over 100 performances from local and out-of-town bands, Off Beat 18 | RN&R | 11.08.18
began to hit its stride last year, according to co-founder and festival organizer Flip Wright. “I feel like last year was kind of a tipping point, a little bit, where we had lines at our venues, which was a new experience for us,” Wright said. “I think this year, more than any year we’ve had so far, we know that there are people coming. And bands, actually, this year, for the first time, seem to be bringing contingents of people with them.” Wright, a life-long music fan, grew up in Reno before moving to Los Angeles and the Pacific Northwest for grad school. After his return over a decade ago, he and his business partner Baldo Bobadilla set out to create a city-wide music festival à la Austin’s South by Southwest or Boise’s Treefort Music Fest. “It’s irritating that our local music scene doesn’t get recognized as well as it should, and it’s irritating when out-of-market bands don’t come to Reno because they’re not really aware of what the scene is either,” Wright
said. “So, if we’re able to, over the course of a weekend, bring 100 bands to Reno, you know, 60 to 70 of which might be from out of town who haven’t played here before, then, with each year, that number grows pretty rapidly. So, now we will have booked over 400 bands to play Reno, to play Off Beat, in the past four years.” One of those bands is Up is the Down is The, founded by Reno transplant Andrew Martin, who will play Off Beat for the first time this year. Martin has lived in Boise for the past three years and has played Treefort Music Fest every year since he moved there. “It takes over all of downtown Boise for four or five days, and they have everything from music to food to film to art installations to poetry to actually creating art on a canvas, and then they have a bunch of speakers come from all over the world and musicians from all over the world come and share their talents,” Martin said.
To Martin, Treefort makes sense as a model for Off Beat because of the cultural similarities between Reno and Boise. “[They have] similar music scenes— really, really tight knit music scenes and a huge variety, and they all work together,” Martin said. “So, in that sense, Reno and Boise are definitely the same. I used to say that the comparison between the two is Reno and Boise are like siblings, and Boise is like the sibling that has its shit together, and Reno just kind of has fun a lot more often.” This year, Off Beat concerts will be concentrated around midtown and California Avenue to make them easily accessible by walking, Wright said. He’s expecting around 4,000 attendees. Artists from similar genres or labels will play at the same venues. Wristbands will provide attendees different levels of access over the three-day festival, and are priced from $10 to $119. (Full disclosure: RN&R editor Brad Bynum will perform with one of the dozens of groups at this year’s Off Beat.)
“I think that there’s just an organic nature to all of this,” Wright said. “Like, we know that certain people want to go to Shea’s, and they expect to hear certain music. Certain people want to go to the Loving Cup and have a certain experience. If we’re going to bring in awesome punk or heavy metal bands, let’s put them where they’re going to feel the most comfortable or the most welcome.”
Band together
Reno without trying to sell Reno. I think we’re all passionate, and we want to see Reno be successful. I think we all feel growing pains and understand that there are those people who do and don’t like what’s happening, but we can’t really do anything about that. I really will never apologize for this place, ever, in any sense of the word.” Some musicians, like San Francisco-based Thomas Johnson of the band Killer Whale, have found an appreciation for Reno as a regular tour stop through Off Beat. Its capacity for afterparties makes the festival unique as well. “Last year, it was a packed show at Off Beat,” Johnson said. “Since then it just seems like we’ve been growing crowds in Reno. It reminds me of South By [Southwest] in a smaller, cooler way, honestly. And I like playing there. I like Reno. I like the late-night vibe. I like being able to play a late show and then hang out after that as well.” To Reno acts like three-piece garage rock outfit Basha, however, touring opportunities are more than welcome. They made connections at last year’s Off Beat that made some out-of-town shows possible. “For us, it’s not really about selling merch or the follower count,” said guitarist Amber Scala. “I think the cool thing about Off Beat, as a local band, is getting to represent our city and getting to Wright meet bands from all over the place and kind of introduce them to the city and our music scene and what it has to offer.” The Reno arts community should be the primary draw of an event like Off Beat, according to Bryan McAllister, whose modern jazz band Very Stable Genius will play the festival for the first time this year. “I think the thing that all music festivals need in their infancy is the support of the community,” McAllister said. “If my music can be played for 45 minutes on one of those nights, and I get to be a part of it in that way, then hopefully it’s a way in which I can give back to what I have reaped the benefits of for years, which is an important and supportive and talented music community here in Reno.” Ω
Guy Keltner, front man for soul/rock band Acid Tongue and founder of Freakout Records in Seattle, will be returning to the Loving Cup this year with a contingent of artists associated with his label and their accompanying music festival, Freakout Festival. “Freakout Fest is now the week after Off Beat, so the last two years it’s really become a great working relationship as far as booking goes,” Keltner said. “These things do wonders, you develop relationships, too, with people. And I think that’s what happens whether we’re hitting Reno or Boise or Seattle. When you do it regularly, you start seeing the same faces, and people start showing up who know the lyrics, which is amazing.” Keltner said that smaller, Flip independent music festivals like Off Beat are an easy way for bands to increase their exposure to different markets and make relationships with local musicians that could be mutually beneficial—or even just mutually appreciative. “I’m just attending it as a fan really,” Keltner said. “Like, our stage is our stage, and I’m on that night, you know, as a Freakout and a band representative, but every other night that we’re there, and when I’m walking around town, I’m just enjoying everything.” Off Beat’s visibility as a showcase of Reno’s musical talent comes at a time when the city itself is suffering some growing pains. But Wright and his team think Off Beat serves as an open invitation to the West Coast to partake in all of what Reno has to offer. “I think we’re growing at the right time as a festival as the city is growing as a city,” Wright said. “I think those two things are in A full lineup, venue schedule and ticket pricing can be tune with each other. We talk about a love for found at offbeatreno.com.
“So, now we will have booked over 400 bands to play Reno, to play Off Beat in the past four years.”
11.08.18 | RN&R | 19
by JessicA sAntinA
Melody (Zorba Hazel) and Hope (Barbara Biondo) share an awkward moment.
Good grief There’s a throw pillow on the set of Be a Good Little Widow that makes a perfect metaphor for the characters and premise. It’s gold and covered in sequins, gaudy and awkward in a home full of mismatched hand-me-downs, trying too hard to gussy up something that isn’t quite right—just like the young woman sitting on the couch in the opening scene of Bekah Brunstetter’s dramedy about loss, now showing at Restless Artists Theatre in Sparks. The young woman is Melody, played by Zorba Hazel, whose green hair perfectly mirrors her own greenness, not just as an acting newbie but also in her role as a newlywed who hasn’t quite figured out how to be a wife yet, trying to fit into her new Connecticut community after relocating from Colorado. Twenty-something Melody picked out the gaudy pillow as part of an effort to spruce up the new home she shares with her corporate lawyer husband, Craig (Brandon Rainer), who spends most days in other parts of the world, or on his phone on the rare occasions he’s home. Craig’s mother, Hope (Barbara Biondo), pops in regularly, to coddle her son and criticize Melody, providing another opportunity for the young woman to struggle hopelessly to fit in and prove she’s a good fit for her buttoned-down, high-powered husband. But before Melody hits her stride or starts to feel comfortable in this new home, Craig dies in a plane crash, ripping apart the life Melody just began, leaving her wondering what she’s supposed to do now. Fortunately—or unfortunately—Hope, a widow herself, steps in to show the perpetually screwed-up Melody how it’s done. Awkwardness pervades the production, which director Dave Zybert’s program notes indicate is purposeful, showcasing Melody’s own inadequacy in her marriage, in her dealings with Hope or in 20 | RN&R | 11.08.18
Photo/courtesy restless Artists theAtre
her inappropriate flirtations with Craig’s coworker, Brad (Robert Helmers). It’s so awkward, in fact, that I squirmed a bit in my seat. The story’s awkwardness can really only be handled deftly by confident, experienced actors in order to showcase the character dynamics—yet this production’s relatively inexperienced cast doesn’t quite have the chops. Melody and Craig seem more like kids playing house than lovestruck newlyweds. And Melody’s acute grief comes off as acted, but not always felt. The show contains quite a few laughs, usually at Biondo, whose performance as the complicated Hope was the strongest of the bunch. But her clichéd mother-in-law role is too harsh, her humanity too unreachable, so I couldn’t quite root for her. The relationship between Melody and her mother-in-law is billed as the dominant relationship in the story, but the real story here, to me, is what Melody comes to realize about her relationship with Craig—all that it was, and all that it wasn’t—and how that realization helps her to finally grow up. That’s when the awkwardness, tension and irritation melted away for me. When the prospect of losing what these women have lost hit me dead on and felt real, I cried real tears. And because it will make you count all your blessings and hug your loved ones more tightly, it’s worth giving it a shot. Ω
12345 Be a Good Little Widow restless Artists theatre, 295 20th st., sparks,
presents Be a Good little Widow, written by Bekah Brunstetter, and directed by David Zybert, on nov. 8, 9, 19, 15, 16, and 17 at 7:30 p.m., and nov. 11 and 18 at 2 p.m. tickets are $15 general, $12 seniors/military and $8 students. For more information, visit www. restlessartiststheatre.org or call 525-3074.
by BoB Grimm
b g ri m m @ne w s re v i e w . c o m
SHORT TAKES
3
“Play it cool, rami. i’m sure the real Freddie got his mic stuck in his pants once or twice too.”
Bites the dust Rami Malek gives it his all as Freddie Mercury, the late lead singer of Queen, in the new biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. That, and a competent recreation of Queen’s Live Aid domination, are just about the only good things you can say about this mostly embarrassing effort to memorialize an incredible person and his sadly short life. The movie basically takes Mercury’s legacy, completely screws with his life’s timeline and makes up a bunch of unnecessary events to pad its 135-minute running time. So much of this film isn’t true, and the fact that they took this hard-living rock star’s life and homogenized it for a PG-13 film doesn’t help make it feel anything close to authentic. Mercury died from pneumonia while battling AIDS in 1991. He wasn’t diagnosed with the illness until 1987. This film, partially directed by Bryan Singer and then finished by Dexter Fletcher, has Mercury learning of his diagnosis before his incredible 1985 Live Aid performance, even telling the band of his illness shortly before they went on stage. This is complete bullshit and a total injustice to Mercury and his band’s legacy. The film also suggests that Queen was broken up for years before hitting the stage for Live Aid. While the band members did, in fact, put out some solo albums, and they probably squabbled like most groups do, the band continued as a unit. They were friends. The film purports to show Live Aid as their reunion gig, but the band was already on a live tour, a fully functioning unit, when they took the stage for those legendary 20 minutes. It’s more complete bullshit. Mercury’s boyfriend at the end of his life was a man named Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker). The film depicts their meeting when Mercury gropes Hutton, depicted as a servant, cleaning up after a crazy Mercury party. The two met under completely different circumstances in a gay bar. Hutton was a hairdresser, not a hired servant at Mercury’s house. And Mercury never did a treasure hunt for Hutton.
The film depicts him going through the phone book after meeting Hutton and trying to find him for years. The two met once. Hutton rejected Mercury, and then they met up again a couple of years later, eventually dating and moving in together. As for Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton), the woman Mercury considered his common-law wife? The movie over-dramatizes what went on between them, and basically slanders the special bond these two people had. Why do filmmakers need to distort facts like this, especially when the life in focus is so damned interesting and could fuel five incredible movies instead of one hokey, mostly madeup soap opera? Bryan Singer was fired from the movie after fighting with producers and Malek. Was his take a more realistic one? Sacha Baron Cohen was originally involved with the production but fell out with producers and the remaining members of Queen when the milquetoast vision for the movie was taking form. One can only imagine what we would’ve gotten had he remained involved. Malek, acting through a big set of fake teeth made to capture the look of Mercury’s four extra incisors, is decent in the role. He actually sang on set, his voice blended with a Mercury soundalike to keep the movie from being a completely lipsynched affair. The musical sequences, including the Live Aid gig, are fun to watch. But, hey, if I want good Queen music, I can just watch the videos of Queen. There’s a movie happening between those musical sequences, and that movie is terrible, a messed-up bit of fakery that prompts a lot of unintentional laughter. There’s a great, truthful movie to be made about the life of Freddie Mercury. Bohemian Rhapsody doesn’t even come close to being that movie. Ω
Bohemian rhapsody
12345
Bad Times at the El Royale
Writer-Director Drew Goddard, in hiding as far as feature directing goes since his 2012 The Cabin in the Woods, assembles an all-star cast for one nutty, and sometimes a little too cute for its own good, movie. The star of this movie is the El Royale, a fictional hotel based on the actual Cal Neva Lodge, once owned by Frank Sinatra, in Lake Tahoe. It’s a solid piece of art direction, for sure, from its aged lobby straddling two states, to its creepy tunnels behind the rooms set up for criminal voyeurs. Jeff Bridges plays a mysterious priest who checks into the resort along with a singer (Cynthia Erivo), a vacuum salesman (Jon Hamm) and a hippie (Dakota Johnson). After the messed-up manager (Lewis Pullman) checks them in, each visitor has their own story in their own rooms. Goddard has flourishes of brilliance here, mixing thrills, mystery, humor and lots of blood into the intertwined plots, giving the film a Tarantino-like feel. (I know that’s a cliché these days, but it’s true.) The film is set in 1969, paying homage to the time through its soundtrack, set design and subplot involving a Manson-like cult leader (Chris Hemsworth).
4
First Man
Space exploration movies and TV events based upon real missions, not surprisingly, have often made “the mission” the thrust of the plot. First Man goes a different route. It dares to focus on Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling in top form), the man at the center of the Apollo 11 mission, and what made him tick. It shows the familial struggles the man dealt with leading up to the mission and, most strikingly, his viewpoint, through his visor, as a bunch of workers clad in white packed him into a sardine can and blasted him off into space. It’s an amazingly intimate movie, considering the subject matter. Director Damien Chazelle (La La Land) doesn’t ignore the details of NASA’s build up to eventually planting Armstrong’s feet on the lunar surface. In fact, the film is one of the most scientifically intriguing I’ve seen when it comes to what astronauts go through and the mechanics of a space launch. What it also manages to be is a moving, often haunting, study of the sacrifices and enormous pain Armstrong went through to beat the Russians to the moon landing punch.This film is about Armstrong’s sacrifices, hardships and the enormous psychological and physiological tortures he went through in that decade leading up to Apollo 11.
4
Halloween
Forty years after she first “dropped the knife,” Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) tangles, yet again, with the unstoppable killer Michael Myers, and this time she’s got an arsenal and a panic room. The new Halloween comes to us courtesy of writer-director David Gordon Green, and writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley. Green is no slouch, responsible for a few highly regarded indies (George Washington, All the Real Girls) and classic comedies (Pineapple Express and banner episodes of TV’s Eastbound & Down). When it was first announced that he and McBride were working on a new Halloween, the initial “What? Huh?” was quickly followed by “Say … this could work!” Thankfully, it works quite well. Myers’ mask looks good, appropriately aged and scary as heck in certain lighting. The movie has nice touches of real humor to go with its scares and gore, of which it has plenty. I would be happy if this was the last Halloween movie, but something tells me there will be more.
4
Mid90s
Jonah Hill makes his feature directing debut from his own script with Mid90s, the best movie ever made about skater culture and a powerful movie about familial dysfunction and the need for friendships. Sunny Suljic (The House with a Clock in Its Walls) gives a breakout performance as Stevie, a kid living in a single parent household with a headcase older brother, Ian (Lucas Hedges). Stevie suffers massive beatings at the hands of Ian and goes to a messed-up place where he
causes himself further pain with self-inflicted strangulation, skin burns and simply pressing on the bruises Ian created. In short, the kid has some major issues. In search of some kind of identity, Stevie grabs himself a skateboard and starts hanging around some older kids at the skate shop. As Stevie’s social life takes off, his home life further withers, including increasing violence from Ian and some communication problems with his mother, Dabney (Katherine Waterston of Alien: Covenant). The director doesn’t shy away from the bad influence some of them provide—influences present in just about every high schooler’s life. Suljic, a solid young actor, proves to be the perfect pick for Stevie.
5
A Star is Born
4
The Sisters Brothers
2
Venom
It’s movie magic at its most beautiful when Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga share the screen in A Star is Born. It’s a rousing remake of the old warhorse rise-to-fame story, and it’s easily the best movie with that title ever made. Cooper makes his feature directorial debut and stars as Jackson Maine, a Southern rocker barely getting through his gigs thanks to too much alcohol, too many pills and a nasty case of tinnitus. The film opens with Cooper live on stage belting out “Black Eyes,” a song that clearly states this movie means business on the musical front. He brings a lot of legitimate musical soul to the role. And he damned well better, because his counterpart in this story is played by none other than Lady Gaga in her fierce feature lead debut. (She had bit parts in Sin City and Muppet movies.) As Ally, a waitress who sings occasionally at the local drag bar, Gaga delivers so well beyond expectations it seems impossible. She’s so good it hurts, especially in the film’s dramatic moments, of which there are many.
John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix join forces as the title characters, guns for hire, contracted to find a prospector (Riz Ahmed) with a scientific trick for finding gold in rivers. Reilly plays Eli, the nicer of the two brothers, who is starting to consider life after riding and killing. Phoenix plays Charlie, perfectly content to be a bounty hunter of sorts, as long as the mission includes hookers and lots of booze. When another man (Jake Gyllenhaal) intercepts the prospector with intent of turning him over to the brothers, he has a change of heart, and the hunt takes on a new dimension. Reilly and Phoenix are great together, creating a palpable fraternal bond. This is a dark period Western speckled with some funny moments, but don’t be tricked by the commercials for the film. It’s a mostly dark affair, acted well by all involved. Jacques Audiard (A Prophet) has made a moving, absorbing, appropriately nasty Western that gives the impression everybody on screen smells really bad. Phoenix, having a banner year, turns out to be perfectly cast as a gunslinger, something I wouldn’t have believed going in. He and Reilly give this film a ton of soul, and it doesn’t hurt having the likes of Gyllenhaal and Ahmed in their supporting roles. They are all equally good.
This is a sometimes entertaining mess, but it’s still a mess. Let’s get the obvious out of the way: you shouldn’t have a Venom movie without Spider-Man playing into the comic villain’s backstory, somehow. This film has no Spidey. Tom Hardy labors hard at playing Eddie Brock, an investigative reporter who’s infected by the symbiote and starts biting off people’s heads in PG-13 fashion. Brock winds up with Venom’s voice in his head and an ability to make Venom sort of a good/bad guy. It’s all kind of stupid, playing things mostly for laughs and squandering a chance for a real horror show. Hardy gives it his all, but the film feels like a botch job pretty much from the start. Michelle Williams gets what might be the worst role of her career as Brock’s girlfriend, and Riz Ahmed plays the stereotypical villain. There are hints of something cool, but they are buried under a pile of muck.
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by Todd SouTh
A bowl of ramen is filled with pork belly, softboiled egg, bean sprouts, wood ear mushrooms, fish cake, green onions and seaweed.
Souped up All I’d heard about Haru—Reno’s brandnew Japanese bistro—was a promise of “real” ramen. Its still in the soft-open phase, but I couldn’t wait. My group was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of grilled delights and tasty rice bowls. We started with yakitori ($5)—skewers and small plates of grilled meats. They were each served with individual sauces and takuan—a crisp, sweet and sour daikon pickle said to be invented by a famed 17th century zen warrior monk. First up were crispy, seared bone-in chicken wing flats, creamy chicken livers and bunched-up chicken skin that was fatty, a little gelatinous and reminiscent of pork cracklins. Huge bacon-wrapped sea scallops were great, though I found the bacon a distraction to my favorite bivalve mollusk. Cubes of beef ribeye with a spicy chimichurri were medium rare and incredibly tender—the stuff of which meaty dreams are made. Thin pieces of karaage (Japanese fried chicken) were surprisingly moist and served with plain kewpie (extra rich mayo) as well as a super fiery version. Korean galbi (beef short rib) was tender and succulent. A skewer of bacon-wrapped cherry tomatoes was great (and a buck less, at $4, than the yakitori plates), but I’d advise waiting a bit to allow the boiling hot centers of the tomatoes to cool off before popping ’em in your mouth. All ramen bowls include roasted pork belly, bean sprout, scallion, fish cake, nori and ajitama (marinated, soft-boiled egg); you can punch it up with added seasonings. We ordered all varieties offered, including two with chicken-pork stock and enoki mushroom ($12 each) and two with pork stock and wood ear mushroom ($13 each). Each broth had subtle differences owed to their tare flavor enhancers. They were 22 | RN&R | 11.08.18
PHOTO/ALLISON YOUNG
all were rich and satisfying. The pork belly was tender, the veggies fine, and the noodles were definitely fresh and perfectly cooked. The nori (dried seaweed) is decoratively served on the side of the bowl. Some eat it crispy, but I let it soak in and add a hint of ocean spray to the dish. Ajitama is something I treasure, and I’m always disappointed when a plain, hard boiled egg is substituted. The creaminess and blend of flavors in good ajitama is transcendent, and Haru has it dialed in. I almost had a tear in my eye when a friend with an egg allergy offered me hers. Of the four donburi (rice bowls) available, we tried two. Katsudon ($12) came with breaded pork cutlet in dashi (kelp and fish stock), shoyu (soy sauce), stir-fried onion, scallion and egg. Unadon ($12) featured two large, skin-on filets of unagi (freshwater eel) grilled with a thick, hickory-flavored sauce of shoyu, syrup, ground eel eggs and mirin (sweet rice wine). The eel was melt-in-your-mouth amazing. The golden brown pork was moist-yet-crispy— and the onion-egg mix a nice complement. Both came with piping hot miso soup and a choice of sides. We sampled kimchi and pickled shiitake. The fermented cabbage was crisp and more savory than spicy. The pickled ’shrooms were bliss in a bowl, with a similar pickling flavor as the takuan that leveled-up by the meaty, heady fungi. Since Haru is so new, it’s no surprise there were a few service missteps, like tea served tepid and quickly replaced by very hot tea or eggs ordered on the side that were in the bowl. But the food was great, and new dishes are planned, including some vegetarian options. I imagine I’ll be back many, many times. Ω
haru
5210 Longley Lane, 507-7355
Haru is open from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., and from 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
by JeRi CHaDwell
j e ri c @ne w s re v i e w . c o m
Bartender and podcast host Rory Dowd hosts Sunday Services at Headquarters.
Church keys Sunday Services Rory Dowd is the “man about town” sort, known around Reno as a longtime bartender and co-host of the music-centric Worst Little Podcast. These days, he’s behind the bar at Headquarters—known as “HQ” at 219 W. Second St.—and bringing in local musicians for a new, weekly live show. Dowd calls the event “Sunday Services,” and himself “Reverend Rory Dowd.” It’s a shtick, he said, that “just kind of offered itself up.” “I was K-12 Catholic in the ’70s and the ’80s,” he said. “And I did want to go to seminary—so the Reverend Rory shtick really grew out of that. … It’s Sunday. It’s Sunday Services. It is also my service industry night. I do the specials all day. It’s not a night special.” And Sunday Services music is not a nighttime event. Shows start each week by 7 p.m.—a pragmatic decision on Dowd’s part, meant to give folks a chance to catch new acts and familiar ones that normally play other local venues at later hours. “It’s Sunday, early enough in the day to catch the day drinkers who might still be rolling around … and also early enough for anyone who’s got to work on Monday morning,” Dowd said. “A lot of people still do church and then a late afternoon, early evening dinner out on Sundays. This show, I thought, would be a nice, little dovetail after it.” Dowd launched a similar event at St. James Infirmary while bartending there. This new iteration of Sunday Services has only been going for a few weeks now. “It’s a different bar, and they are such different bars,” Dowd said. “Infirmary is definitely that kind of dark, close, cozy feeling. Here’s, it’s much more of a party place. It’s the
PHOTO/JERI CHADWELL
Headquarters, with the bar crawls and the late-night EDM thing.” HQ owners Ed and Heidi Adkins brought Dowd on board to bolster business during earlier hours and on slower days. He also does the bar’s booking for other nights—so Sunday Services, he said, can serve as an opportunity for him to preview new acts. “It is definitely kind of a try-out night, auditions for later on down the line—you know, shows on a Thursday, when I can actually pay them,” Dowd said. “This is a donation show. It’s on the kindness of the audience.” The shows aren’t just a booking opportunity for new acts, though. It’s also a chance for established musicians to play new music. “Like I did with the early years of my podcast, I’m tapping friends of mine,” Dowd said. “They may be lead singers or guitar players in bands, who I know do solo songs, covers, their own songs they don’t do in the band. You kind of get this HQ unplugged, alternate version of some of their songs.” On Oct. 28, the show featured Myke Read—guitarist for the local punk rock outfit Infecto Skeletons. He came that night to perform “tear-in-your-beer country songs and Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.” Dowd said his Sunday Services event is still in its nascence at HQ, but he has high hopes to attract a larger congregation of music lovers. “As a child, I went to church every Sunday, and there was the guy up on the stage with the book talking to everybody,” he said. “Now, here I am with my own stage and my own books and my own words to save everybody. And I like to think they’re words of encouragement and love, too.” Mostly, he encourages those showing up to Sunday Services to bring $5 for the donation plate. Ω
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214 W. Commercial Row, (775) 813-6689
5 STAR SALOON
132 West St., (775) 329-2878
Karaoke, 9pm, no cover
40 MILE SALOON
10069 Bridge St., Truckee, (530) 536-5029
Flor de Toloache
Flor de Toloache, 7pm, $5-$20
BAR OF AMERICA
Nov. 8, 7 p.m. Alibi Ale Works 10069 Bridge St. Truckee (530) 536-5029
10040 Donner Pass Rd., Truckee, (530) 587-2626
CARgO CONCERT HALL
255 N. Virginia St., (775) 398-5400
The Pink Party: Fort Knox Five, Keith MacKenzie, 10pm, $10-$25
Dance party, 10pm, $5
Dance party, 10pm, $5
Labor of Love screening, 7pm, no cover
Dusty Miller and the Cryin’ Shame, 9pm, no cover
Caribbean Soul, 9pm, no cover
Caribbean Soul, 9pm, no cover
Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, Child Bite, Purification By Fire, 8pm, $20 Off Beat Fest: Outlaw Kindred, Travis Hayes, The HA, 7pm, $35 wristband
Off Beat Fest: Veronica Bianqui, Honyok, The Blank Tapes, 7:50pm, $35 wristband
CEOL IRISH puB
Off Beat Fest: Margo Cilker, Jesse Daniel, 7:40pm, $35 wristband
Off Beat Fest: Laura Benitez/Heartache, Miss Lonely Hearts, 7:40pm, $35 wristband
538 S. Virginia St., (775) 329-5558
COTTONWOOd RESTAuRANT & BAR
Carson Comedy Club, Carson City Nugget, 507 N. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 882-1626: Sean Peabody, Fri-Sat, 8pm, $15 Laugh Factory, Silver Legacy Resort Casino, 407 N. Virginia St., (775) 3257401: Jamie Lissow, Thu, Sun, 7:30pm, $21.95; Fri-Sat, 7:30pm, 9:30pm, $27.45; Ms. Pat, Tu-W, 7:30pm, $21.95 LEX at Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-5399: Darren Carter, Fri, 6:30pm, $15-$20 The Library, 134 W. Second St., (775) 683-3308: Open Mic Comedy with host Jim Flemming, Sun, 9:30pm, no cover Pioneer Underground, 100 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-5233: Darren Carter, Thu, 8pm, $10-$15, Fri, 8:30pm, Sat, 6:30pm, 9:30pm, $15-$20; Fundraiser for Toys for Tots and Veterans Guest House with Brian Lee, Fri, 6pm, $15-$20
CRAFT WINE & BEER
22 Martin St., (775) 622-4333
Off Beat Fest: Bryan McAllister’s Very Stable Genius, 7pm, $35 wristband
Off Beat Fest: Megan Moore & MELK, Quinn Deveaux, 7pm, $35 wristband
dAVIdSONS dISTILLERY
So’ Sol, 9pm, no cover
Live music, 9pm, no cover
Alyssa Edwards, 8pm, $10-$15
La Cruda Hangover Brunch, Show & Social, 11am, $7-$40
275 E. Fourth St., (775) 324-1917 239 W. Second St., (775) 470-8590
RuPaul’s Drag Race rerun viewing party, drag show, 8pm, no cover
Speak Easy at HQ, 8pm, $5
THE HOLLANd pROjECT 140 Vesta St., (775) 742-1858
Emarosa, Amarionette, Impurities, Mourning Eyes, 8pm, $TBA
The Reno Gem & Mineral Society Presents:
2018 Artisan Craft Fair Reno Town Mall
S. Virginia/Across from the Atlantis Casino
Veterans Day Weekend Nov 9
Friday: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Nov 10
Saturday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m
Nov 11
Sunday: 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
WWW.RenoRocksHounds.COM
Admission/Parking Free We are a Section 501(c)(3) non profit corporation
24 | RN&R | 11.08.18
Trad. Irish Session, 7pm, Tu, Wednesday Night Showcase, 7pm, W, no cover
Sit Kitty Sit, Roxxy Collie, 7pm, $5 DJ Berazz, 10pm, no cover
Sunday Services with Thee Reverend Rory Dowd, 7pm, $5 donation
Ladies Night with DJ Heidalicious and guests, 9pm, W, no cover
Offbeat Fest: Black Marble, Death Bells, Fearing, Solterona, 7pm, $15-$20
Off Beat Fest: Pardoner, Gymshorts, Stirr Lightly, Poppies, 5:20pm, $10-$20
Florist, Gina Rose, 7pm, $10-$20
King Lil G, Rittz, 7:30pm, $25
Stonecutters, Tyranis, Flood Fire Death Drought, 8pm, $TBA
Basement Tapes, The Habituals, Donkey Jaw, The Dialers, 8pm, $5 Baker Street, 8pm, no cover
3372 S. McCarran Blvd., (775) 825-1988
71 S. Wells Ave., (775) 384-1652
As I Lay Dying, Within the Ruins, Kingdom of Giants, 8pm, W, $22.50
Great Basin Brewing’s 25th Anniversary Party, 11am, $5-$30
HELLFIRE SALOON
juB juB’S THIRST pARLOR
Open Mic Night, 7pm, M, no cover
Karaoke with Matthew Ray, 9pm, Tu, no cover
846 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 355-7711 219 W. Second St., (775) 800-1020
Karaoke, 9pm, W, no cover
The Wind Down, 10pm, no cover
gREAT BASIN BREWINg CO. HEAdQuARTERS
MON-WED 11/12-11/14
The Streets of Truckee, 6:30pm, $45
10142 Rue Hilltop, Truckee, (530) 587-5711
FACES NV
SUNDAY 11/11
SPCA Dance Day Bootcamp, 1pm, donations
CHApEL TAVERN
1099 S. Virginia St., (775) 324-2244
Comedy
SATURDAY 11/10
Protohype, Slimez, 51-Fifty, Game Genie, Spiritual Advisor, 10pm, $0-$15
Off Beat Fest: The Juvinals, Drainer, Off Beat Fest: Basha, The Brankas, Slow Sun Valley Gun Club, 8pm, $35 wristband Corpse, Van Goat, 8pm, $35 wristband
1495 S. Virginia St., (775) 323-1877
ALIBI ALE WORKS
FRIDAY 11/9
Pound, Neck of the Woods, 8pm, M, $5 Bad Wolves, 8pm, W, $22.50
The Jungle
246 W. First St., (775) 329-4484
THURSDAY 11/8
FRIDAY 11/9
Trivia Night, 8pm, no cover
Live music, 9pm, no cover
SATURDAY 11/10
SUNDAY 11/11
Open mic, 7pm, M, no cover Comedy Night, 9pm, Tu, no cover
lAughIng PlAneT CAFe
Jazz Jam Session Wednesdays, 7:30pm, W, no cover
941 N. Virginia St., (775) 870-9633
lIvIng The good lIFe nIghTClub
1021 Heavenly Village Way, S.L. Tahoe, (530) 523-8024
Magic Fusion, 7pm, 9pm, $21-$46
The lovIng CuP
188 California Ave., (775) 322-2480
MIdTown wIne bAr
1527 S. Virginia St., (775) 800-1960
DJ Trivia, 7pm, no cover
MIllennIuM
PAddY & Irene’S IrISh Pub
Acoustic Wonderland Sessions, 8pm, no cover
The Polo lounge
Bingo with T-N-Keys, 7pm, no cover DJ Bobby G, 9pm, no cover
1559 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-8864
Magic Fusion, 7pm, $21-$46 Magic After Dark, 9pm, $31-$46
Magic Fusion, 7pm, 9pm, $21-$46
Off Beat Fest: Up is the Down is the, Pearl Charles, 8:20pm, $35 wristband
Off Beat Fest: The Mammoths, 9:20pm, $35 wristband
Jake’s Garage 5.0, 8:30pm, no cover
Alias Smith, 8pm, no cover
Raymix: Sonido Cubaley, Ritmo Ardiente, Reggaeton Night, 10pm, 10pm, $TBA free for women before 11pm
2100 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 378-1643 906-A Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 358-5484
Mile High Jazz Band, 7:30pm, Tu, no cover
Carolyn Dolan Music, 6:30pm, no cover
1480 N. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 841-4663
The loFT
PonderoSA SAloon
106 S. C St., Virginia City, (775) 847-7210
Magic Fusion, 4:30pm, 7pm, $21-$46
Post shows online by registerin g at www.newsrev iew.com/ren o. Deadline is th e Friday before public ation.
DJ Bobby G, 8pm, no cover
Soul Kiss, DJ Bobby G, 8pm, no cover
Steel Rockin’ Karaoke, 8pm, no cover
Hired Gunnz, 8pm, no cover
ST. JAMeS InFIrMArY
Off Beat Fest: Emily Afton, Oh, Rose, Slow Caves, 8pm, $35 wristband
Off Beat Fest: Night Rooms, Shana Falana, Half Stack, 8pm, $35 wristband
Off Beat Fest: Chaki, Swoop Unit, Mojo Green, 7:20pm, $35 wristband
Off Beat Fest: Haunted Summer, The Bash Dogs, Spirit Award, 7:10pm, $35 wristband
SheA’S TAvern
Off Beat Fest: Skew Ring, Ealdor Bealu, Drainer, 8:30pm, $35 wristband
Off Beat Fest: Dead Country Gentlemen, Criminal Hygiene, 8:30pm, $35 wristband
SPArkS lounge
Big BBQ Bash w/The Jokers Wild Blues Band, 7pm, no cover
Hollywood Trashed, 9pm, no cover
445 California Ave., (775) 657-8484
715 S. Virginia St., (775) 786-4774 1237 Baring Blvd., Sparks, (775) 409-3340
Off Beat Fest: Mapache, Moondog Matinee, Howlin’ Rain, 8:10pm, $15
wAShoe CAMP SAloon
2660 Lake Tahoe Blvd., S. L. Tahoe, (530) 544-3425
Wednesday Night Jam, 8pm, W, no cover Karaoke, 7pm, M, no cover DG Kicks Band, 8pm, Tu, no cover
Moon Gravy, 12:30pm, no cover
Saints and Sinners Wednesday Night Blues Syndicate, 8pm, W, no cover
Florist
Open Mic Night with James Ames, 6pm, Tu, no cover
3155 Eastlake Blvd., New Washoe City, (775) 470-8128
whISkeY dICk’S SAloon
Nov. 10, 10 p.m. 1up 214 W. Commercial Row 813-6689
T-N-Keys, 4:30pm, Tu, no cover Krystal & Paul Duo, 7:30pm, W, no cover
Open Mic with Doug Tarrant, 7pm, W, no cover
76 N. C St., Virginia City, (775) 847-7474
761 S. Virginia St., (775) 221-7451
Magic Fusion, 7pm, M, Tu, W, $21-$46
Fort Knox Five
red dog SAloon
The SAInT
MON-WED 11/12-11/14
Zion Roots, 9pm, no cover
Nov. 11, 7 p.m. The Holland Project 140 Vesta St. 742-1858
Open mic, 7:30pm, M, no cover
SCHEELS | 1200 SCHEELS DRIVE | SPARKS, NV 89434
10k-8:30am • 2 MILE RUN-8:30am • 2 MILE WALK-8:40am 11.08.18 | RN&R | 25
ATLANTIS CASINO reSOrT SPA 3800 S. Virginia St., (775) 825-4700 1) Ballroom 2) Cabaret
BOOmTOwN CASINO
2100 Garson Road, Verdi, (775) 345-6000 1) Events Center 2) Guitar Bar
THURSDAY 11/8
FRIDAY 11/9
SATURDAY 11/10
SUNDAY 11/11
MON-WED 11/12-11/14
2) Platinum, 8pm, no cover
2) Platinum, 4pm, no cover Cook Book, 10pm, no cover
2) Platinum, 4pm, no cover Cook Book, 10pm, no cover
2) Cook Book, 8pm, no cover
2) Reckless Envy, 8pm, M, Tu, W, no cover
2) Krystal McMullen, 6pm, no cover
2) Paul Covarelli, 5pm, no cover The Look, 9pm, no cover
2) Paul Covarelli, 5pm, no cover The Look, 9pm, no cover
2) The Robeys, 6pm, no cover
2) Tandymonium, 6pm, M, no cover Gary Douglas, 6pm, Tu, no cover Jason King, 6pm, W, no cover
CArSON NuggeT CASINO & HOTeL
Al Stewart, 7pm, 9pm, $25-$40
507 N. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 882-1626
CKY
CArSON VALLey INN
Nov. 10, 9 p.m. MontBleu Resort 55 Highway 50 Stateline (800) 648-3353
1) Valley Ballroom 2) Cabaret Lounge 1627 Highway 395 North, Minden, (775) 782-9711
CIrCuS CIrCuS
500 N. Sierra St., (775) 329-0711 1) El Jefe 2) Cabaret
CrySTAL BAy CASINO
14 Hwy. 28, Crystal Bay, (775) 833-6333 1) Crown Room 2) Red Room
eLdOrAdO reSOrT CASINO
Karaoke
345 N. Virginia St., (775) 786-5700 1) Theater 2) Brew Brothers 3) NoVi
Jimmy B’s Bar & Grill, 180 W. Peckham Lane, Ste. 1070, (775) 686-6737: Karaoke, Fri, 9pm, no cover Pizza Baron, 1155 W. Fourth St., Ste. 113, (775) 329-4481:Wacky Wednesday Karaoke with Steve Starr & DJ Hustler, 9pm, no cover. The Point, 1601 S. Virginia St., (775) 3223001: Karaoke, Thu-Sat, 8:30pm, no cover Spiro’s Sports Bar & Grille, 1475 E. Prater Way, Ste.103, Sparks, (775) 356-6000: Karaoke, Fri-Sat, 9pm, no cover West 2nd Street Bar, 118 W. Second St., (775) 348-7976: Karaoke, Mon-Sun, 9pm, no cover
2) Reckless Envy, 7pm, no cover
grANd SIerrA reSOrT
2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000 1) Grand Theatre 2) LEX 3) Crystal Lounge
HArd rOCk HOTeL ANd CASINO 50 Hwy. 50, Stateline, (844) 588-7625 1) Vinyl 2) Center Bar
2) Reckless Envy, 8pm, no cover
1) Core 4 Comedy Show, 7:30pm, $20 2) Reckless Envy, 8pm, no cover
1) DJ Mo Funk, 10pm, no cover
1) DJ Chris English, 10pm, no cover
1) Andre Nickatina, Philthy Rich, Husalah, 2) Inna Vision & Gonzo, 10pm, no cover 9pm, $25-$30
2) Hans Eberbach, 6pm, Tu, W, no cover
2) Tnertle, 10pm, no cover
1) Cirque Paris, 7pm, $19.95-$49.95
1) Cirque Paris, 8:30pm, $19.95-$59.95 3) DJ Roni V, 10pm, no cover
1) Cirque Paris, 5pm, 8:30pm, $19.95-$59.95
2) Throwback Thursdays: Trivia Night, 7pm, no cover
1) YG, 8pm, $30-$50
1) J Balvin, 8pm, $65-$135
1) Stampede Country Music and Dancing, 8pm, no cover
2) DJ/dancing, 10pm, no cover
2) DJ/dancing, 10pm, no cover
1) Cirque Paris, 5pm, $19.95-$49.95
HArrAH’S LAke TAHOe
2) Buddy Emmer and guest, 8pm, Tu, no cover
15 Highway 50, Stateline, (800) 427-7247 1) South Shore Room 2) Casino Center Stage
mONTBLeu reSOrT CASINO & SPA 55 Hwy. 50, Stateline, (800) 648-3353 1) Showroom 2) Opal Ultra-Lounge 3) BLU
PePPermILL reSOrT SPA CASINO 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121 1) Terrace Lounge 2) Edge
1) Harbour, 7pm, no cover 2) Spin Thursdays, 10pm, no cover
SILVer LegACy reSOrT CASINO
407 N. Virginia St., (775) 325-7401 1) GEH 2) Rum Bullions 3) Aura 4) Silver Baron
3) CKY, Nekrogoblikon, Black Plague Wolves, 9pm, $20-$22
1) Heart By Heart, 8pm, $20-$25
1) Harbour, 8pm, no cover 2) Latin Dance Social, 7pm, $10-$20
1) Harbour, 8pm, no cover
1) Bogg Jazz Ensemble, 6pm, no cover
1) Celtic Thunder X Tour, 8pm, $39.50-$59.50
1) 98° at Christmas 2018, 8pm, $49.50-$59.50 3) Seduction Saturdays, 9pm, $5
2) Karaoke with Rock On Entertainment, 9pm, no cover
Virginia Street Antique Mall & Vintage Clothing THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SERVE THIS COMMUNITY... BOTH HOME & OVERSEAS
STOREWIDE SALE UP TO 30% OFF
SUNDAY NOV 11TH & MONDAY NOV 12 TH VINTAGE CLOTHING, JEWELRY, BOOKS, FURNITURE & LIGHTING FROM NEVADAʼS OLDEST ANTIQUE MALL OPEN DAILY 10:00AM - 5:30PM
1251 S. Virginia St • Reno • 775-324-4141 www.facebook.com/vsamreno 26 | RN&R | 11.08.18
1) Bogg Jazz Ensemble, 6pm, M, Tu, W, no cover
FOR THE WEEK OF nOvEmbER 8, 2018 For a complete listing of this week’s events or to post events to our online calendar, visit www.newsreview.com. GEARS & BEERS—CRAFT BEER AND COOL CARS: Sample craft beer from local brewers, wander through picturesque street scenes and enjoy more than 200 cars on display. Proceeds help to preserve and maintain the National Automobile Museum. Sat, 11/10, 1pm. $70. National Automobile Museum, 10 S. Lake St., (775) 333-9300.
GREAT BASIN BREWING’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY: The brewery celebrates its anniversary with 25 rare and classic Great Basin beers on tap. The party includes games, contests, live music by Dirty Cello, anniversary swag for purchase and a silent auction to raise money for Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation. Sat, 11/10, 11am. $5$30. Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 355-7711, www.greatbasinbrewingco.com.
nOv/10: v
APEX CONCERTS: SHAKESPEARE & GOETHE
The University of Nevada, Reno’s chamber music series continues its 2018-2019 season with a program bringing together the worlds of music and literature. The concert will explore the influence of two titans of world literature—William Shakespeare and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe—on the creative process of the compositional giants of classical music. Pianist Jon Kimura Parker, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, violist Matthew Lipman, cellist David Finckel and Apex co-artistic director and pianist Hyeyeon Park will perform Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1, “Ghost,” Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream for Piano Four Hands, Schubert-Liszt’s Gretchen am spinnrade and Erlkönig and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in C minor, Op. 60. The show begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 10, at Nightingale Concert Hall in the Church Fine Arts Building, 1335 N. Virginia St., at UNR. Tickets are $35 general admission and $5 for UNR students with valid ID. Admission is free for youth age 17 or younger. Call 784-4278 or visit unrmusic.org/apex.
EvEnTS AN EVENING IN BLUE: The third annual black tie/formal event honors the law enforcement community and remembers fallen officers. The keynote speaker for the evening is retired Phoenix police officer Jason Schechterle. The evening includes a buffet dinner, dancing and a silent auction and raffle to raise money for Northern Nevada Concerns of Police Survivors. Sat, 11/10, 5pm. $125. Nugget Casino Resort, 1100 Nugget Ave., Sparks, www.facebook.com/northernnvcops.
ARMISTICE—COMMEMORATING THE END OF THE GREAT WAR: The Nevada State Museum honors all veterans and marks the centennial of the end of World War I. The event will include a Native American Honor Guard, WWI U.S. Cavalry display, poppy display and thank you gifts for veterans. Sat, 11/10, 10am. Free. Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 687-4810, nvculture.org.
ART21 SCREENING: Art21 is a celebrated global leader in presenting thoughtprovoking and sophisticated content about contemporary art. Holland Project Galleries will host a screening of the Bay Area episode from the latest Art21 season. Mon. 11/12. 5:30pm. Free. The Holland Project, 140 Vesta St., (775) 7421858, www.hollandreno.org.
BELLS OF PEACE: As part of the United States WWI Centennial Commission’s initiative, Nevada State Museum staff, volunteers and Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell will toll the liberty bell at 11am in Loftin Park, located outside the museum’s front entrance, 21 times and play taps as an act of remembrance of those who served and sacrificed. Sat, 11/11, 11am. Free. Nevada State Museum, 600 N. Carson St., Carson City, (775) 6874810, nvculture.org.
DISTINGUISHED LECTURE SERIES FEATURING IRA FLATOW: The host of the Science Friday radio talk show presents the “Catalysts of Creativity: The Inspirations for New Ideas.” Searching through inventions and patents of the last hundred years, Flatow digs out some of the more unusual, interesting and humorous sparks of imagination. RSVP at www.unr.edu/engineering-lecture. Thu, 11/8, 6pm. Free. Milt Glick Ballroom, Joe Crowley Student Union, University of Nevada, Reno, 1500 N. Virginia St., (775) 784-6925, events.unr.edu.
HANDS ON! SECOND SATURDAYS: The Hands ON! Second Saturdays monthly program offers free admission, hands-on art activities, storytelling, a docent-guided tour, live performances and community collaborations. Sat, 11/10, 10am6pm. Free. Nevada Museum of Art, 160 W. Liberty St., (775) 329-3333.
THE KING: Artemisia MovieHouse presents a screening of the 2107 documentary film. Forty years after the death of Elvis Presley, two-time Sundance Grand Jury winner Eugene Jarecki’s new film takes the King’s 1963 Rolls-Royce on a musical road trip across America. His journey traces the rise and fall of Elvis as a metaphor for the country he left behind. Jarecki paints a visionary portrait of the state of the American Dream. Sun, 11/11, 6pm. $5-$9. Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Company, 124 W. Taylor St., (775) 6363386, www.artemisiamovies.weebly.com.
READING AND SIGNING: Meet the authors of Pershing County: 100 Years. Sat, 11/10, 2pm. Free. Sundance Books and Music, 121 California Avenue, (775) 786-1188, www.sundancebookstore.com.
SCIENCE SATURDAYS: Blast off on adventures at the National Automobile Museum. Experience full-dome planetarium programs, hands-on workshops, live presentations, virtual reality headsets and iPad interactive stations. Participants aged 8-12 must be accompanied by an adult. Sat, 11/10, 9:30am. $12. National Automobile Museum, 10 S. Lake St., (775) 333-9300.
VETERANS DAY PARADE: The annual parade honors veterans and those currently serving in the military. Opening ceremonies start at the Virginia Street Bridge. The parade heads north down Virginia Street. Sun, 11/11, 11:11am. Free. Along Virginia Street, between First and Fifth streets, (775) 334-4636, www.reno.gov.
VETERANS DAY PARADE: Virginia City hold its FRIDAY BIRD WALKS: These walks will be led by Katie Bird. There’s a limited supply of binoculars to share, so bring your own if you have them. Meet at the arboretum office. Fri, 11/9, 4pm. Free. Wilbur D. May Center, Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, 1595 N. Sierra St., (775) 785-5961.
annual celebration to honor America’s past and current veterans. Sun 11/11, 11:11am. Free. C Street, Virginia City, (775) 847-7500, visitvirginiacitynv.com.
OnSTAGE
WEEKEND NATURE WALKS: These walks are designed for families with children age 10 or younger who want to learn more about different aspects of the environment. The walks are led by Alexis Tarantino, an environmental studies student at the University of Nevada, Reno. Sat, 11/10, 10am. Free. Wilbur D. May Center, Rancho San Rafael Regional Park, 1595 N. Sierra St., (775) 785-4153.
BE A GOOD LITTLE WIDOW: Restless Artists Theater presents Bekah Brunstetter’s sad comedy about loss and longing. Young wife Melody has never been to a funeral—until her husband dies in a plane crash. Expected to instantly assume proper widowhood, Melody is left to wonder, what’s the right way to grieve? Fortunately, her mother-in-law is a professional. Widow, that is. Under her guidance, Melody must try her best to be a good little widow. Thu, 11/8-Sat, 11/10, 7:30pm; Sun, 11/11, 2pm. $8-$20. Restless Artists Theatre, 295 20th St., Sparks, (775) 525-3074, rattheatre.org.
WILD ABOUT PUMPKINS: Watch Sierra Safari Zoo’s tigers, leopards, baboons, camels, porcupines, hoofed stock and monkeys eat, play and tear apart their Halloween goodies. Sat, 11/10, 11am-1pm. $7-$11. Sierra Safari Zoo, 10200 N. Virginia St., (775) 677-1101.
BEN & JOE: The award-winning duo
WILD AND SCENIC FILM FESTIVAL 2018:
features Ben Hunter and Eamon Jones on fiddle, mandolin, banjo and harmonica and bones. Fri, 11/9, 7:30pm. $20-$35. Mountain Music Parlor, 735 S. Center St., (775) 843-5500.
Friends of Black Rock-High Rock hosts the annual touring film festival. Film screening will be held on third floor of the Whitney Peak Hotel above the Cargo Concert Hall. Attendees can expect to see award-winning films about nature, community activism, adventure, conservation, water, energy and climate change, wildlife, environmental justice, agriculture and Native American and indigenous cultures. In addition to an art show and no-host bar, there will be a raffle and silent auction featuring a variety of prizes from local businesses. Fri, 11/9, 7pm. $10-$15. Whitney Peak Hotel, 255 N. Virginia St., (775) 557-2900, blackrockdesert.org/wild-scenic-2018.
THE BIGGEST LITTLE THEATRE & NEW WORKS FESTIVAL 2018: Brüka Theatre presents its seventh annual showcase for original theater pieces featuring traditional and non-traditional performances and stage readings created by local and regional performing artists. This festival features nine staged readings and one spoken word performance over four days in the Sub-Brüka space. Thu,
11/8-Fri, 11/9, 7:30pm; Sat, 11/10-Sun, 11/11, noon. $5-$30. Brüka Theatre, 99 N. Virginia St., (775) 323-3221.
ART
GERSHWIN’S MAGIC KEY: This is the story of a poor newspaper boy’s encounter with the great American composer George Gershwin. The Reno Phil will perform his greatest works as he shares historical anecdotes about his life and musical passion. A friendship develops as the two explore the vast melting pot of American music and discover the key to unlocking the boy’s own musical potential. Sat, 11/10, 1pm. Free. Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, 100 S. Virginia St., renophil.com.
ARTISTS CO-OP GALLERY OF RENO: Art-Full Christmas. Handmade gifts, ornaments, art, glass, pottery, photography and more by local artists and craftsmen. There will be two receptions for this show on Nov. 11 and Dec. 9. The show runs through Dec. 28 (closed on Christmas Day). Sun, 11/11-Wed, 11/14, 11am-4pm. Free. Artists Co-op Gallery of Reno, 627 Mill St., (775) 322-8896.
THE HOLLAND PROJECT: Living Room. This
SUNDAY JAZZ AT RLT: Reno Little Theater
exhibition features work by Adam Benedict, Maya Claiborne, Em Jiang and Marjorie Williams. Living Room is on view in the Main Gallery at the Holland Project through Nov. 30 with an opening reception on Nov. 8, from 6-8pm. Thu,
partners with For the Love of Jazz and 89.5 KNCJ for this monthly event. Jordan Caroompas’ Cascadillia will perform. Pay-what-you-can admission. Proceeds benefit RLT and For the Love of Jazz. Sun, 11/11, 7pm. Free. Reno Little Theater, 147 E. Pueblo St., (775) 813-8900.
11/8-Fri, 11/9, Tue, 11/13-Wed, 11/14 , 3-6pm. Free. The Holland Project, 140 Vesta St., (775) 742-1858.
THE WEDDING SINGER: TMCC’s Performing
NEVADA MUSEUM OF ART: Anne Brigman: A Visionary in Modern Photography; BLOOM: Ken Goldberg, Sanjay Krishnan, Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg; James Turrell: Roden Crater; Judith Belzer: The Panama Project; Laid Bare in the Landscap; The Lasting World: Simon Dinnerstein and The Fulbright Triptych; Maya Lin: Pin River—Tahoe Watershed; John Banovich: King of Beasts; After Audubon: Art, Observations and Natural Science; Paul Valadez: Selections from the Great Mexican-American Songbook. Thu, 11/08-Sun, 11/11, Wed, 11/14, 10am. $1-$10. Nevada Museum of Art, 160 W. Liberty St., (775) 329-3333.
Arts presents its musical production based on the 1998 movie starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. It’s 1985. Robbie Hart is New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer. He’s the life of the party until his own fiancée leaves him at the altar. Shot through the heart, Robbie makes every wedding as disastrous as his own. Enter Julia, a winsome waitress who wins his affection. Julia is about to be married to a Wall Street shark, and, unless Robbie can pull off the performance of a decade, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. Fri, 11/9-Sat, 11/10, 8pm; Sun, 11/11, 2pm. $10-$17. Nell J. Redfield Foundation Performing Arts Center, 505 Keystone Ave., (775) 789-5671, www.tmcc.edu.
11.08.18
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28 | RN&R | 11.08.18
by AMY ALKON
Apartnering up My husband and I started having problems when I found an email he sent to his ex-girlfriend saying, “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He’s never complimented me during our five years together. He revealed that he and his ex used to have sex for hours, while the most we ever spent making love was 45 minutes—only once, when we were first dating. I think I should leave, but we have a 1-year-old child. We are good together caring for the baby, but it’s terrible to be with a man who lacks love, respect and desire for you. A good deal of research suggests that the healthiest home environment for a kid is an “intact family”—as opposed to the “Uncle” of the Month Club. Couples wanting what’s best for their children are motivated to de-uglify their relationship and can often work out what I call “process-oriented” problems—counterproductive ways of interacting that lead to nasty fights or just seething resentment. This is essential because even if nobody’s screaming and hurling casserole dishes, the underlying tone of a relationship is reflected in interactions as mundane as “Can ya pass the salt?” (Ideally, your tone suggests some affection for your partner.) You, however, are in a relationship with a man who is deeply passionate about another woman and appears to see sex with you as a household chore. Your resentment from feeling unwanted and equally toxic feelings from him are sure to seep into your daily life. So, staying together under these circumstances would most likely be damaging for your child—but chances are, so would splitting up. To understand why an intact family seems important for kids’ well-being, it helps to understand a few things from an area of evolutionary research called “life history theory.” It explores how the type of environment a person grows up in calibrates their psychology and behavior—for example, how able they are to delay gratification. This calibration is basically a form of human mental economics— a subconscious calculation of how stable or risky a person’s childhood environment is and whether they’d be better off allocating their energy
and efforts toward the now or the future. A stable, predictable environment—like growing up with middle-class parents who remain married, live in a peaceful neighborhood and always provide enough food to eat—tends to lead to a more future-oriented approach, like being able to save money. Conversely, growing up in a dangerous neighborhood, having divorced parents with unpredictable finances and getting moved around a lot is likely to lead to a more now-oriented approach (spendorama!). The good news is, you two may be able to break up without it breaking your kid. My friend Wendy Paris and her former husband did this—splitting up as a couple while staying together as parents of their young son. Wendy writes in her book Splitopia: Dispatches From Today’s Good Divorce and How To Part Well that they even relocated together from New York to Los Angeles, moving to separate places a few blocks apart. They hang out and do activities as a family. Her ex often comes over to make breakfast for her son and coffee for her. He even takes out the trash! Sure, he did that when they were married, but Wendy was too preoccupied with her issues with him as a husband to appreciate it like she can now. In a situation like yours, where resentment is high, a mediator could be helpful. (Look for a marital specialist at mediate.com.) A mediator is not a judge and won’t tell you what to do. He or she is a neutral third party, de-escalating conflict and creating a safe, productive psychological environment. This makes it possible for people with disputes to work out a mutually acceptable agreement for how they’ll go forward. Now, mediation doesn’t work for everyone. However, it’s probably your best bet for “having it all”—acting in your child’s best interest and eventually having a man in your life who sees you as more than a ballast to keep the mattress down in case there’s a tornado. Ω
ERIK HOLLAND
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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Free will astrology
by ROb bRezsny
For the week oF November 8, 2018 ARIES (March 21-April 19): In 1994, Aries pop diva Mariah Carey collaborated with an associate to write the song “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” It took them 15 minutes to finish it. Since then it has generated $60 million in royalties. I wish I could unconditionally predict that you, too, will efficiently spawn a valuable creation sometime soon. Current planetary alignments do indeed suggest that such a development is more possible than usual. But because I tend to be conservative in my prophecies, I won’t guarantee anything close to the $60-million figure. In fact, your reward may be more spiritual in nature than financial.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): An interactive post
at Reddit.com asked readers to write about “the most underrated feeling of all time.” One person said, “When you change the sheets on your bed.” Another extolled “the feeling that comes when you pay all your bills and you’ve still got money in the bank.” Others said “dancing under the rain,” “physical contact like a pat on the back when you’re really touch starved” and “listening to a song for the first time and it’s so good you just can’t stop smiling.” I bring this to your attention, Taurus, because I suspect that the next two weeks will bring you a flood of these pleasurable underrated feelings.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Beer makes you feel
the way you ought to feel without beer,” wrote Gemini author Henry Lawson. Do you have any methods for making yourself feel like you’ve drunk a few beers that don’t involve drinking a few beers? If not, I highly recommend that you find at least one. It will be especially important in the coming weeks for you to have a way to alter, expand or purify your consciousness without relying on literal intoxicants or drugs. The goal: to leave your groove before it devolves into a rut.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Study the following
five failed predictions: 1. “There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom.” —Robert Miliham, Nobel Laureate in Physics, 1923. 2. “This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” —Western Union internal memo, 1876. 3. “Rail travel at high speeds is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of asphyxia.” –Dionysius Lardner, scientist, 1830. 4. “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” —Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977. 5. “Most Cancerians will never overcome their tendencies toward hypersensitivity, procrastination, and fear of success.” —Lanira Kentsler, astrologer, 2018. (P.S. What you do in the next 12 months could go a long way toward permanently refuting the last prediction.)
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): German scientists have
created cochlear implants for gerbils that have been genetically modified, enabling the creatures to “listen” to light. The researchers’ work is ultimately dedicated to finding ways to improve the lives of people with hearing impairments. What might be the equivalent of you gaining the power to “hear light”? I understand that you might resist thinking this way. “That makes no sense,” you may protest, or “There’s no practical value in fantasizing about such an impossibility.” But I hope you’ll make the effort anyway. In my view, stretching your imagination past its limits is the healing you need most right now. I also think that doing so will turn out to be unexpectedly practical.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Here’s useful wisdom
from the poet Rumi: “Our defects are the ways that glory gets manifested,” he said. “Keep looking at the bandaged place. That’s where the light enters you.” Playwright Harrison David Rivers interprets Rumi’s words to mean, “Don’t look away from your pain, don’t disengage from it, because that pain is the source of your power.” I think these perspectives are just what you need to meditate on, Virgo. To promote even more healing in you, I’ll add a further clue from poet Anna Kamienska: “Where your pain is, there your heart lies also.” (P.S. Rumi is translated by Coleman Barks; Kamienska by Clare Cavanagh.)
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Artist David Hockney is proud of how undemanding he is toward his friends and associates. “People tell me they open my emails first,” he says, “because they aren’t demands and you don’t need to reply. They’re simply for pleasure.” He also enjoys giving regular small gifts. “I draw flowers every day and send them to my friends so they get fresh blooms.” Hockney seems to share the perspective expressed by author Gail Godwin, who writes, “How easy it was to make people happy, when you didn’t want or need anything from them.” In accordance with astrological omens, Libra, I suggest you have fun employing these approaches in the coming weeks. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I am not currently
a wanderer or voyager or entrepreneur or swashbuckler. But at other times in my life, I have had extensive experience with those roles. So I know secrets about how and why to be a wanderer and voyager and entrepreneur and swashbuckler. And it’s clear to me that in the coming weeks you could benefit in unforeseen ways from researching and embodying the roles of curious wanderer and brave voyager and savvy entrepreneur and prudent swashbuckler.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “The best thing
one can do when it is raining is let it rain.” That brilliant formulation came from poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Does it seem so obvious as to not need mentioning? Bear with me while I draw further meaning from it, and suggest you use it as an inspiring metaphor in the coming weeks. When it rains, Sagittarius, let it rain; don’t waste time and emotional energy complaining about it. Don’t indulge in fruitless fantasies about how you might stop the rain and how you’d love to stop the rain. In fact, please refrain from defining the rain as a negative event, because after all, it is perfectly natural, and is in fact crucial for making the crops grow and replenishing our water supply. (P.S. Your metaphorical “rain” will be equally useful.)
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Every true
love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation,” writes activist and author Elif Shafak. “If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven’t loved enough.” I bring this to your attention because you’re in a phase when your close alliances should be activating healing changes in your life. If for some reason your alliances are not yet awash in the exciting emotions of redemption and reinvention, get started on instigating experimental acts of intimacy.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I suspect you will be
an especially arousing influence in the coming weeks. You may also be inspiring and disorienting, with unpredictable results. How many transformations will you unleash? How many expectations will you dismantle? How many creative disruptions will you induce in the midst of the daily grind? I hesitate to underestimate the messy beauty you’ll stir up or the rambunctious gossip you’ll provoke. In any case, I plan to be richly amused by your exploits, and I hope everyone else will be, as well. For best results, I will pray to the Goddess of Productive Fun, begging Her to ensure that the commotions and uproars you catalyze will be in service to love and kindness.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Gonzo journalist
Hunter S. Thompson wasn’t always a wild and crazy writer. Early in his career he made an effort to compose respectable, measured prose. When he finally gave up on that project and decided he could “get away with” a more uninhibited style, he described it as being “like falling down an elevator shaft and landing in a pool full of mermaids.” I foresee a metaphorically comparable development in your future, Pisces.
You can call Rob Brezsny for your Expanded Weekly Horoscope: (900) 950-7700. $1.99 per minute. Must be 18+. Touchtone phone required. Customer service (612) 373-9785. And don’t forget to check out Rob’s website at www.realastrology.com.
by MAtt BiEKER
Taxidermist
PHOTO/MaTT Bieker
Emily Felch, the 23-year-old owner and purveyor of Natural Selection in midtown, never thought her penchant for taxidermy would translate to a business. Now, after four years of selling live plants and dead animals, she recently renovated her shop to accommodate more bodies.
So how did you get into taxidermy? I’ve always really loved animals, and I was always kind of intrigued by taxidermy, but it didn’t really start until seventh grade. I had read a biography on Theodore Roosevelt, and ... I had just learned about people doing taxidermy. But Theodore Roosevelt was a taxidermist in his younger years. He would go and hunt birds and things, and taxidermy them in his spare time because he was a sickly child and wasn’t able to go play sports. And then Walter Potter was an anthropomorphic taxidermist during the Victorian Era. He did, like, cats playing croquet and all sorts of weird stuff— and, between the two of those, it kind of cultured this weird fascination with it. So on my way home from babysitting one day, I picked up a roadkill marmot, and my mom helped me skin it out with a pair of scissors and a Swiss army knife, and I have been absolutely in love with it ever since.
And do you continue to do your own pieces? Are there any for sale here in the shop? Right now, I don’t have anything that I’ve done for sale in the shop. I mostly just work the shop. I don’t really have time to do taxidermy because it is really timeconsuming. I do rats and mice occasionally—usually little anthropomorphic ones because everybody loves those. Like, I had a whole set of them that we’re drinking coffee. My dog ate those ones, so I have to redo those.
How did the hobby transition into a business? I was going between [the University of Nevada, Reno] and [Truckee Meadows Community College], just trying to get a degree because that’s what I thought I needed to do. My mom and I were driving through here one day—here being
m a t t b @ne w s re v i e w . c o m
midtown—and specifically this spot. And we’d been kind of talking about starting an online store or something because it’s something I enjoyed, and I found there was an uptick at the time in interest in this sort of thing. And we drove by, and there was a “for rent” sign in the window, and we decided later that night that we wanted to do it. And I dropped out of college, and now I’m doing this. It happened really, really fast.
Who’s your customer base? It varies so much. I will say mostly women, because it’s home goods—it’s nesting, in a way. But, honestly, it varies. One moment it will be a granddad and his grandkids, and next it will be a chick with face tattoos.
Do you ever get any push back from people who come in here? I’ve had women scream before. Taxidermy, it’s not for everyone. For the most part, if people don’t like it, they don’t come in. I’ve had people get a little feisty with me before, but usually after I explain where everything comes from, and I try to show my respect for it, everybody seems to appreciate that.
Sure, I mean, if you get over the simple fact that something had to die for you to get that experience. Yeah, and that’s one thing, too, because death is so foreign in today’s culture that it is kind of a shock for some people. But I think it’s one of those things, like everything dies eventually, and you may as well treat it with respect. Ω
by BRUCE VAN DYKE
Morning in Nevada What a lovely morning. Last night was filled with outright happiness and stone cold glee. I haven’t felt that good in a long, long time—like about two years! Some lingering thoughts on The Morning After ... One thing we learned on election night is that Republicans are now so unencumbered with trivialities like ethics, morals and smarts that they’ll just go ahead and elect (1) criminals (Congressfelons Collins and Hunter) and (2) dead people (Dennis Hof). Good to know! Talk about sending a stiff to Carson City! The three brightest new stars on the Democratic scene—Andrew Gillum, Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke—all lost. It was a good night, for sure, but not on that front. I’m sure we’ll hear more from each, since they are all (1) high quality candidates and (2) high quality people. And, hey, when the guy running for governor is also the
guy overseeing the election, gee, what could go wrong? Yeah, you could say the optics of that Georgia story aren’t exactly 20-20. Lo and behold, it turned out to not be the Blue Wave, but the Pink Wave. Thanks, girls. Seriously. We owe ya one. And millenials, way to show up. Cheers! Telling Dean Heller to piss off was a high point. A very high point. And congrats to our new governor. Rosen and Sisolak? Elected amidst a hideous onslaught of millions of Mitch/ Adelson dollars? Oh, that is just so fucking delicious I can barely stand it. So now we’ve got the new Feinstein/Boxer double dame tandem in the Senate, in the persons of Catherine Cortez Masto/Jacky Rosen. Good for us. I’m betting that’s a first for Nevada. Give ’em hell, ladies. Hey, America, way to go! Way to goddamn go, Uncle Sam! You
didn’t completely succumb to that horrific bile blast of racist nonsense from Dum Dum and his twisted right hand man, hateful mutant Steven Miller. I was hoping like hell you wouldn’t let that ugliness triumph, Sammy ole pal, and thank you for keeping it somewhat together. I knew a disturbing number of citizens would slip on that vicious and ridiculous Caravan crap, but thank the stars Sane People still outnumber the Deplorables. I think. Yes, there were some disappointing losses—once again, as always, Florida proved utterly lame, useless and pitiful—and some mighty big wins. Including The Big One. We’re coming, Twitler. We’re coming for you and your tanning bed. And your phone. And your taxes. Suck on that, jagoff. Have a nice day. And, gee, isn’t it about time for Mr. Mueller to get back on stage? Ω
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