Dec. 24, 2014

Letters............................ 3 Opinion/Streetalk............ 5 Sheila.Leslie.................... 7 Brendan.Trainor.............. 7 News.............................. 8 Green........................... 10 Feature......................... 14 Arts&Culture................ 16 Art.of.the.State............. 18

RENo’s NEws & ENtERtaiNmENt wEEkly

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VolumE 20, issuE 45

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DECEmBER 24-DECEmBER 30, 2014

Foodfinds..................... 22 Film.............................. 24 Musicbeat.....................25 Nightclubs/Casinos....... 28 This.Week.................... 30 Advice.Goddess........... 32 Free.Will.Astrology....... 34 15.Minutes.....................35 Bruce.Van.Dyke............35

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december 24, 2014

Send letters to renoletters@newsreview.com

See ya, Sage Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Today’s a sad day in the world of this newspaper. Sage Leehey is moving back down to the Las Vegas area. She’s been with us since March 2013. She’s been in charge of the Green section, and she’s headed up all the special projects, like Summer and Winter Guides and all those family supplements.

I first met Sage four years ago next month. She was in my Journalism 107 class. Crazy how these kids grow up before your eyes. One second they’re in a freshman journalism class and the next they’re going back to Vegas to get a grown up job in a big city and help out with the family.

I’ve got certain favorites through the years, beginning journalists I worked with who went on to do bigger things than I’ll ever do. I always know it when I’m working with them; they’ve just got something that makes them stand out. (And I’ve often been told I have an eye for talent.) Sage is one of these, and I’m going to miss her, both in these pages and in the office. *** It’s Christmas. Many people think I’m a screwed up human being for many reasons, but man, I will never be able to get behind Christmas. For one, I’m not a Christian, except in American cultural ways.

Second, I don’t believe that conspicuous consumerism and waste should be celebrated.

I’m forced by culture to change my life to adapt to the schedule foisted on us by the dominant religion in this country.

I understand a little bit why Fox’s Bill O’Reilly feels there’s a war on Christmas by the secular part of society. It’s easy. It takes two to have a war, and O’Reilly is simply feeling his side’s aggression toward the rest of us.

But on the other hand, Christmas is a great time for me.

I really like to have time alone with my thoughts, and since everyone else is doing the Christmas thing, the time I get to do the things I can only do by myself is the best gift I get every year.

Regardless, I hope every day is a happy holiday for our readers.

30 seconds gone, just gone.

an end to ascriptive allegiance and a return to consensual natural right U.S. citizenship.

David Farrar Cedartown

Re “Poetic adjustments” (Notes from the Neon Babylon, Dec. 11): This is the worst piece of writing I have ever seen or read by a journalist.

What is it you are saying? Are you making fun of what has been going on?

Are you saying you disagree with what has been going on? Are you saying you agree with what has been going on?

What, what it is you are trying to say to your readers, Mr. Van Dyke? Whatever it is you are trying to say, this piece of garbage doesn’t say anything at all and is a waste of time to read.

Melynda Mall Sparks

Pay as you go Re “The doctor won’t see you now” (Feature story, Nov. 28, 2013): I retired last year and my wife had to take on my insurance payments, which were previously paid by my employer. That took an additional $550 a month out of her paycheck. I signed on for concierge health care at a clinic for $2,100 a year. I pay for tests and meds and they do not do insurance. If I could switch our plan to a high premium catastrophic coverage for myself, we would come out OK. My doctor of record that I can use my insurance with does very little. When I get to see him, he doesn’t touch me.

He asks questions and taps on his tablet and then he’s gone. My concierge doctor sees me every time I go in. I’m sometimes there for an hour talking to him and the other providers in his clinic. With the choices available to me in this country, I’m very satisfied with this. The insurance I have to have for anything catastrophic is the bad part.

All of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again Re “Immigrants are not the enemy” (Left Foot Forward, Dec. 11): Absolute rubbish. It’s rubbish because this has all happened before.

All the promises and benefits that would result if good, consistent, enforcement was applied as required by the statutes. But we know, again, from direct experience, such enforcement was not, is not, and will not be delivered and sustained as promised.

This is why immigration reform, real immigration reform, must start with the delegalization of present incentives for those who have crossed our borders illegally. They must include: 1. Repeal the unaccompanied minors’ law that is being manipulated by smugglers to move Central Americans into our country illegally—so far, all we see is funding to help it along—and withdraw new funding for this effort. 2. Pass a law that both bars the explicit claim of deferred action and parole discretion asserted by the president and DHS, as well as their ability to issue work documents to those not in the country in a defined status (non-immigrant, refugee or permanent resident alien). 3. Pass a mandatory e-verify bill for all employers and present it to the President. 4.

Pass an interior enforcement bill that unites state, federal, and local assets in immigration law enforcement. 5. And

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

Sean Grady Cherokee, North Carolina

Without getting into the grand jury findings in the two cases involving the deaths of black men who were resisting arrest, I think it’s unfortunate that President Obama and Attorney General Holder stepped into these two cases. They were local law enforcement issues. The president and attorney general expressed their interest in ways that inflamed rather than defused the community unrest. The administration turned this situation into an emotional and divisive national issue.

Maybe that’s because the president sought counsel from the black community by going to Al Sharpton.

I guess Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson wasn’t available. Obviously neither was Herman Cain or Dr. Ben Carson.

Or Condi Rice. Or Rep. Mia Love. Or

Creative Director Priscilla Garcia Art Director Hayley Doshay Junior Art Director Brian Breneman Production Coordinator Skyler Smith Design Melissa Bernard, Brad Coates, Kyle Shine Advertising Consultants Joseph “Joey” Davis, Gina Odegard, Bev Savage, Jessica Wilson Senior Classified Advertising Consultant Olla Ubay Office Manager/Ad Coordinator Karen Brooke Executive Assistant/Operations Coordinator Nanette Harker

—D. Brian Burghart

brianb@ ne wsreview . com

OPINION

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ARTS&CULTURE

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ART OF THE STATE

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and much more fun than his, in content creation via my Bucket Show that airs daily between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Also, my part with PLAN is only as, again, an advisor in the process of getting this baby off the drawing board and into the community. I’m certainly proud of these efforts, as are the others who have given their time and energies to the project.

Many more Reno-tians, Sparks-ites, and denizens of surrounding communities will lend their hands and hearts to this project for generations to come, and all of us, our children, and our children’s children will be beneficiaries.

Radio Free Nevada KXNV is inclusive, non-commercial, educational, non-partisan and non-confrontational.

It is a resource for community building and bonding and, by the way, is pretty darn fun to listen to! We are running it on a ridiculously small shoestring budget and look to the community for financial support. Donation details are found on the website at www.kxnv891. fm. We also hope everyone will visit and “like” the Radio Free Nevada page on Facebook, an easy way to stay in touch with station activities and provide feedback.

Steve Funk Advisory Board Member Radio Free Nevada, KXNV 89.1fm

Ironic, much?

Re “The Future Of Shopping Hell” (Feature story, Dec. 18): Page 15, the conclusion of your article on the evils of Amazon: “More people need to know what’s going on between that jazzy website and ‘the FedEx guy,’ for Amazon is insidious, far more dangerous and destructive to our culture’s essential values than Wal-Mart ever dreamed of being. Remember: Price is not value.

Exchanging value—and our society’s values—for Amazon’s low prices is a raw deal.”

Page 16, literally the very next page, an article on DVDs recommending Amazon for purchase!

C’mon guys!

Jake Palmer Reno

Radio Reno

Bring on the music

Black leader roulette

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

Larry Elder. Or Ward Connerly. Or Sen. Tim Scott. Or Thomas Sowell.

Col. Allen West. Deneen Borelli.

Would even a Frederick Douglass have been consulted by this White House?

But then, we all know what someone wants when they consult Al Sharpton. And it’s neither facts nor calm.

Robert R. Kessler Las Vegas

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Re “Air waves” (Art of the State, Dec. 18): Great radio is back! Thank you Steve Funk, Bruce Van Dyke, and all the people involved with Radio Free Nevada KXNV 89.1. I am so sick of flipping channels to get away from all the corporate BS ads that constantly flood the airwaves of some of what used to be good radio stations here in Reno. Being a fan of Mr. Van Dyke’s from his days on KTHX I have followed him via his weekly column in your paper, and his involvement with KLAP radio out of Gerlach/ Cedarville. I wish him and all involved much success in this latest venture and look forward to many years of ad free listening.

Tim Holmen Reno

Re “Air waves” (Art of the State, Dec. 18): I’d like to say thanks to the editors and to Ashley Hennefer for the story about Radio Free Nevada. We are so excited about the potential rewards our neighbors can realize with a fullyfunctional community radio station for our region. Communities who already have access to non-profit community stations are demonstrably more cohesive, enjoy higher rates of volunteerism and are better able to solve their own problems from the grassroots up. We greatly appreciate the attention that the debut of KXNV 89.1fm has received.

I’d like to clear up a couple of items in the story, though. Firstly, my role is not “station manager,” that falls to Jeff Cotton of Open Sky Radio. My role is advisory, as a boardmember,

Distribution Director Greg Erwin Distribution Manager Anthony Clarke Distribution Drivers Sandra Chhina, Steve Finlayson, Debbi Frenzi, Vicky Jewell, Angela Littlefield, Joe Medeiros, Ron Neill, Christian Shearer, Marty Troye, Warren Tucker, Gary White, Joseph White, Margaret Underwood General Manager/Publisher John D. Murphy President/CEO Jeff vonKaenel Chief Operations Officer Deborah Redmond Human Resource Manager Tanja Poley Business Manager Grant Rosenquist

NIGHTCLUBS/CASINOS

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THIS WEEK

Business Nicole Jackson

Sweetdeals Coordinator Couryney deShields Nuts & Bolts Ninja Christina Wukmir

Lead Technology Synthesist Jonathan Schultz Senior Support Tech Joe Kakacek Developer John Bisignano System Support Specialist Kalinn Jenkins 405 Marsh Ave., Third Floor Reno, NV 89509 Phone (775) 324-4440 Fax (775) 324-4572 Classified Fax (916) 498-7940 Mail Classifieds to classifieds@newsreview.com

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MISCELLANY

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Web site www.newsreview.com Printed by Paradise Post The RN&R is printed using recycled newsprint whenever available.

Editorial Policies Opinions expressed in the RN&R are those of the authors and not of Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact the editor for permission to reprint articles, cartoons or other portions of the paper. The RN&R is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All letters received become the property of the publisher. We reserve the right to print letters in condensed form.

Cover and feature story design: Hayley Doshay

DECEMBER 24, 2014

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MAKE YOUR HOLIDAY FEAST GRAND.

Through December 28

December 26–January 1

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december 24, 2014

by Dennis Myers

THiS Modern World

by tom tomorrow

Do you have any holiday stories?

Asked at the Summit, 13925 S. Virginia St. Eric Robinson Student

’Twas the night before Christmas when Santa got ready. He drank his first shot to make his hands steady. He flew all night long, not a house was excluded leaving toys and notes “batteries not included.” He looked in his sack and said, “I’m just about done” but then he was sleigh-jacked by a kid with a gun, so now Christmas is over, and Santa is sober.

Leisha Love Performer

When I was 13 years old, I got my little kitten named Scotty for Christmas. He is orange and stripped, and I still have him. Best present ever!

Dillon Mckeen Ski race coach

It’s the thought

One Christmas I received the legendary Red Ryder BB gun and didn’t shoot my eye out. Best Christmas ever.

Christmas is a difficult time of year for many of us.

Soldiers are forced to be away from families during what many consider the most family-oriented time of the year. The working poor are forced to reckon with the truth that their children don’t get the treatment that other children get, and the kids get to look down upon themselves and their parents as a reward.

The growing population of atheists and other nonChristians in the United States get to swim through the religious drivel. The environmentally conscious greenies among us wonder at the millions of trees that are killed just as their benefit begins to outweigh the resources that go into their reaching a sellable size.

And what of those tons of plastic tinsel, wrapping paper, and conspicuous consumption Christmas lights on homes? What of the people who have nobody, the elderly, the single, the infirm?

We could truly go on for the length of this editorial about the types of individuals who are forcibly forgotten during this time of plenty. But this is the News & Review, and we don’t complain without offering ideas of how to make the world a better place for ourselves and others. Or at least a different place.

Every year, you hear the phrase, “It’s the thought that counts.” It’s a shame that’s not a literal idea instead of just a euphemistic way of saying someone didn’t like a gift they received.

This year, come Boxing Day, we urge you to take a moment to think about those people in your world who are most likely to be left behind in the Christmas orgy, and make a plan now for how you might be able to improve their lives come Christmas 2015. Start now.

OPINION

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ARTS&CULTURE

We have a bit of logic to this: If we just come around in the Christmas season, it will be weird for whomever it is we’re trying to bring into our lives. When we just take a coat to the homeless shelter in the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, we’re only doing it to assuage our own guilt at our lack of charity toward the needy throughout the year. And the needy get it, too.

They’re needy, so they can’t refuse our largess, but they know it’s not about including them, it’s still about us.

There are people in hospice care all year. So what if they don’t make it to the next winter solstice? It’s an investment, right? It’s us putting in the little bits of ourselves so we get the big payoff on Christmas Day, when we least want to spend time with strangers— because they won’t be strangers. If it weren’t so damned charitable, it would almost be selfish.

Soldiers in foreign wars are easy. Surely, we can send an email sympathizing with their time away from family. Opportunities will become apparent throughout the year.

Those committed enviros don’t have to be the hard ones. We could save the year’s comics pages to wrap gifts come Santa time next December. We could could make a wreath from materials that don’t kill the trees they come from. We could save eggshells for the spring garden. Homemade jellies, pickled peppers and applesauce will make their season as they taste the juices of your thoughtfulness.

A little thought early in the year may not bring people over to the red side, but it may make them hate it less. And that will make everyone’s world a little brighter. Ω |

ART OF THE STATE

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Kate Redick Hospital cashier

One year the whole family got gold ball shooting guns, and it turned into a full-out war. My cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents were all in on it. We started making alliances and spent hours laughing.

Virginia Keehne Self-employed

When he was younger, my little brother convinced my nephew to take NoDoz so they could catch Santa. They stayed up all night but got busted, and my aunt was pissed.

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DECEMBER 24, 2014

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More fond farewells Betty Munley was born in Reno on Christmas Day in 1933. She graduated from Reno High School and was the first member of her family to go to college, earning her degree from University of Nevada, Reno, and then serving in the Navy. Betty by was a tireless, humble advocate Sheila Leslie for seniors, dedicating her entire professional life to public service.

I met Betty when she was looking for ways to increase the number of seniors served by the Care and Share nutrition program.

She took me to the Senior Citizens Center to lunch with people as they ate their only hot meal of the day.

She educated me about Nevada’s highest-in-the-nation rate of senior For more about the suicides and told me what she was Crisis Call Center, doing about it, creating a senior check out: www. crisiscallcenter.org help line at the Crisis Call Center.

After she retired in 1995, I didn’t see Betty that often except when I would knock on her door during a campaign cycle. She would insist on getting me a glass of water and sitting down to talk about what could be done to get money out of politics. She knew the money spent on campaigns corrupted the process and could think of many more places it could be used more productively, such as feeding and housing senior citizens.

Betty died on Nov. 8. She was a true humanitarian, never waiting for someone else to solve a problem she could attack herself.

Another Reno icon also passed away in November, Dennis (Denny) McMullen. Denny and his wife, Lea, operated a local small business, Denny’s Dependable Automotive for more than 30 years.

Denny was known far and wide as an honest mechanic who would give you the straight answer you needed to make a good decision about an aging vehicle. He approached each vague car complaint, of which I made many, as a puzzle to be solved, without making his customers feel stupid or patronized.

OPINION

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ARTS&CULTURE

A party of four Did you ever wish you could have dinner with famous people from the past? If I could, I would want to invite the Greek philosopher Plato, the Catholic philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu to a holiday by Brendan Trainor dinner. Each of these men represent ideas that are still with us today.

Centuries after their deaths, we will see their modern proxies battle it out in the upcoming Nevada legislature and in the new Republican Congress.

Plato (c. 428-348 BC) is the founder of “Idealism.” He believed that our everyday world is a shadow world, but there are invisible “ideals” only an elite can see that are the perfect embodiments of our mundane existence. Most modern political movements are in fact “idealistic.” Karl Marx (1818-1883) followed the Platonist German philosopher Friedrich Hegel (17701831), who idealized history as a continually evolving progressive force. Hitler’s idealism was founded on the myth of the destiny of the Aryan race. Today’s politicians and pundits crown liberal democracy, not communism, as the end point of Hegel’s historicism. When liberals talk about “society,” they construct an idealistic concept out of hundreds of millions of individuals who own hundreds of millions of personal dreams and ambitions.

Presidents since McKinley and Wilson create an idealistic foreign policy out of America’s supposed role to export Christian or humanist ideals at the point of a gun. Idealists Have you ever seen the on the right call this American internet encyclopedia Exceptionalism, the left prefers the of philosophy? Kind of cool: www.iep.utm.edu/ term “duty to protect.”

Although Plato’s student Aristotle founded philosophical realism, Aristotle was an aristocrat who despised commerce. It fell to his disciple St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 AD) to lay the foundations for a realistic political economy. But you better have a lot of food if you invite the good

Before he started his business, Denny was a detective and then a felon, convicted of a non-violent crime involving marijuana. He did his prison time and faced all the negative consequences without blaming others for his actions. But as an ex-felon, he could not understand why it was so difficult to get his voting rights restored.

Whenever I’d pick up my car, I’d talk politics with Denny in the front office that smelled of coffee, cigarettes and old magazines, with a vintage “Nevada is not a Wasteland” bumper sticker on the wall. In 2003, I asked Denny to testify in favor of a bill to make the process of returning voting rights to ex-felons much easier. He readily agreed, despite his low-key personality and the possibility that many of his customers would learn of his past. “Hell,” he said. “They probably already know.”

He told the Senate Judiciary Committee: “I miss my right to vote. I wanted to be a good member of the community and a productive member of the community. It was embarrassing to admit to anybody I had been in prison. In 1994, 15 years after I had been arrested, I applied to get my civil rights restored and was turned down informally by the governor’s office.

In 1996, I got an attorney, and after 3 years and $8,000, I finally got my right to vote returned. It was an arduous process with many fingerprintings, surprise visits by probation and parole to my home, and letters written. … It could be done more easily, and it should be. … If we want felons integrated back into the community, we have got to give them the opportunity to do so. Otherwise, it is a neverending cycle.”

I didn’t get a chance to chat with Denny about Nevada’s lowest-ever voter turnout last month, but I can imagine what he would have said. Ω

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ART OF THE STATE

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Dominican for dinner: he was so portly he had a special table carved out so he could reach past his girth to eat! Aquinas pioneered the idea of “natural law.” The world is governed not by hidden ideals but by laws of nature all can understand through the use of reason. One of his important contributions is that the just price is the market price, determined by the free bidding of buyers and sellers. Today we have those who believe the “living wage” should be set by government instead. He also believed that trade is a win-win transaction, so every economic transaction is based on a perceived gain by both the buyer and seller. This puts a damper on notions of economic exploitation in a free market. From natural law also comes the “just war” theory, championed mostly by libertarians against neo-conservatives who believe a nation favored by history can make its own rules of war.

I want Lao-Tzu at the table because the founder of Taoism was the first major thinker to articulate libertarian views. A contemporary of Confucius in the fifth century BC, he broke from Confucius who thought bureaucracies could be tamed by teaching bureaucrats how to be virtuous. (The answer is more police training!) Lao-Tzu believed that government, with its laws and regulations “more numerous than the hairs of an ox” was more dangerous than fierce tigers. He was the first to say that government laws create, rather than stop, crime. He preached the virtue of “inaction” by the state. The more quiet the government, the better off the people. When progressives moaned about the “do nothing” last Congress, Taoist libertarians breathed a sigh of relief that at least fewer stupid laws were passed!

Some good food, fine wine, a sherry and a cigar (or joint?) with these three thinkers would be an evening to remember. Ω

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On the Salon website, images of Ferguson protesters and Cliven Bundy were blended.

Nevada firms given LGBT grades An annual “Corporate Equality Index” by the Human Rights campaign assessing how congenial 781 major U.S. corporations and law firms are to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers found that 366 have earned 100 percent rankings for their workplace practices. Four of them are in Nevada: Caesars Entertainment Corp. 100 MGM Resorts International 100 The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas 100 Wynn Resorts Ltd. 100 Tropicana Las Vegas The 90 NV Energy Inc. 70 HRC spokesperson Rena Peng wrote in an email message that NV Energy can bring its score up: “NV Energy is lacking points in the transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage and domestic partner benefits sections. The latter requires there to be parity between employees with different-sex spouses and same-sex partners or spouses in the provision of medical and soft benefits.”

HRC calls it the 2015 index, but obviously it reflects 2014 practices.

Summit sign approved Last week on this page we reported on the vote in the Reno Planning Commission to deny approval of a digital sign at Summit Sierra mall. We reported it that way because that was the outcome announced.

However, the Reno city attorney subsequently found that there is a different voting requirement for the Reno City Council than for city committees made up of citizens. In the City Council, a majority of the full elected membership is needed for a denial.

However, in an appointive board of unelected members, a majority of those present in the room at the time the vote is taken is needed. At the sign hearing, one member was missing.

Accordingly, the sign was approved and now goes to the City Council for final approval.

Unbuilding A Nevada arm of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has issued an assessment of Nevada infrastructure—transportation, schools, water (flood control, wastewater treatment, dams), solid waste and aviation. It gave the state a mediocre grade and, not surprisingly, its findings come back to a problem facing the upcoming Nevada Legislature—the state’s tax system.

“Numerous Nevada cities are now victims of legislation meant to protect residents during the high growth years. During the boom years, property values skyrocketed, but the state legislated a 3 percent per year cap on property taxes to protect residents from excessive tax increases. With the improving economy, the population of cities has returned to prerecession levels and greater, but the tax cap has kept property tax revenue 40 percent to 50 percent below needed levels. To meet the transportation funding shortfalls, Nevada has embraced alternative funding and delivery methods such as Design-Build, Construction Management at Risk (CMAR) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to stretch funding.”

The report can be read at http://tinyurl.com/ls736od.

According to one line of thought, states have fallen behind in keeping infrastructure up to date because they have diverted resources previously used for that purpose into subsidies to lure new business (“Shakedown,” RN&R, Sept, 11).

—Dennis Myers

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DECEMBER 24, 2014

Ferguson/Bundy For months, the Nevada dispute has been part of the debate From the beginning of the Ferguson dispute over the killing of Michael Brown, parallels have been drawn between by that tragedy and the April standoff Dennis Myers in Nevada over tax scofflaw Cliven Bundy. And instead of that angle on the story dying out, as might be expected, it has continued playing out week after week.

In the Arizona Republic just last week, a letter to the editor appeared under the headline, “If BLM acted like cops, Cliven Bundy would be dead.”

“Little changed after the dangerous armed stand-off in the Nevada desert. Real change may come about thanks to Ferguson.”

Brad Friedman Salon “In Ferguson, law enforcement is vastly overreacting in the face of peaceful protesters, while at the Bundy Ranch, law enforcement vastly underreacted in the face of armed secessionists and scofflaws,” Bob Cesca wrote on the Daily Banter website as the Ferguson events first began unfolding.

“In Nevada, a rancher defied a federal court order with the support of hundreds of heavily armed

self-styled militia members,” wrote Marc Ash at Reader Supported News early in the confrontation. “Together they confronted federal agents attempting to serve a warrant, in some cases training their weapons on the agents. In Ferguson, Missouri, following the fatal shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old black man by a white police officer, angry black residents left their homes, stood unarmed in the streets, and faced down a fully militarized, almost entirely white police force. Yes, looting of local businesses is taking place, but it began after the entirely peaceful protests were met

by Ferguson Police in full combat mode.”

In Germany, a Daniel Haufler wrote in the Berliner Zeitung that in the United States only whites can “brandish machine guns at the police,” without fear of reprisal, as did supporters of Cliven Bundy.

As the Ferguson events lengthened, the Nevada events became more prominent in the mix of debate.

After right wing commentator Laura Ingraham called Ferguson protestors a “lynch mob,” Media Matters in America pointed out that Ingraham had claimed the Bundy mob were engaged in “an act of civil disobedience.”

When the issue of military hardware used by community police arose from the events in Ferguson, retired army major Dewey Galeas wrote in the Augusta [Georgia] Chronicle,

“This use and show of force is not American, whether it is at the Cliven Bundy ranch in Nevada, or the streets of Ferguson, Mo. Materiel designed to protect American military now is being used for code enforcement, lawful assembly and illegal lemonade stands. Asymmetrical combat and insurgency make these items necessary in foreign war theaters.

The excuse for their acquisition in America was to prosecute the war on drugs. To not question their possession and use is a symptom of citizenship in lethargy.”

A Phoenix man named Brian Binder wrote in a letter to the editor to the Arizona Republic, “In these cases, people would still be alive today had they done one thing: simply do as the officers had asked.

If you run from an officer, or run toward an officer, I’m sorry, but you deserve to be shot.”

Kevin Moler of Tonopah sent a reply to the Republic: “I remember not too long ago another situation in which a man was confronted by a governmental agency with policing powers who asked him to comply peacefully with their request. Far from being compliant, this person not only resisted but also called for others to join him in his fight. People did come, many with guns, further escalating the situation. In this case, the Bureau of Land Management officials showed better judgment than the police in Ferguson or New York City did. As a result, Cliven Bundy is still alive.”

North Carolina journalist Mary C. Curtis: “Imagine if the police and National Guard in Ferguson were met, as federal officers enforcing the law at Cliven Bundy’s Nevada ranch were, with protesters pointing rifles at them.”

Alabama journalist Kyle Whitmire: “And how would the public react if the folks on the street in Ferguson began acting more like the militia who turned out in support for Cliven Bundy, who had broken the law by refusing to pay federal grazing fees in Nevada?”

Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada organizer Laura Martin: “Law enforcement has a lot of different views. ... In Bunkerville, they responded by retreating. In Ferguson, they responded by using tear gas on people peacefully protesting and [by] arresting members of the press.”

The presence of members of Oath Keepers at both sites drew comment. At Daily Gawker, Adam Weinstein asked, “Why is it that the liberty-loving, government-loathing

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University of Nevada, Reno Sociologist James Richardson said it’s not surprising that people are seeking consistency between the two situations. But he said there is a history of centuries of using police to control blacks and it’s not easy to change that kind of conditioning quickly.

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“Society thinks intuitively that blacks need to be controlled,” he said.

“We have, over centuries, worked very hard not to allow assimilation of blacks. I’m not aware that we’ve had restricted covenants on any other racial group. It’s the legacy of our history. But I certainly think things will change and can change.”

At Salon, Brad Friedman wrote, “In any event, little changed after the dangerous armed stand-off in the Nevada desert. Real change may come about, eventually, thanks to the peaceful—and very brave—resistance of the unarmed protesters in Ferguson.” Ω

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patriots who have for so long warned of a tank-driving, brutal police state were so willing to put their lives on the line for a Cliven Bundy, but not a Ferguson, Missouri?”

Some see the two cases as speaking to something fundamental in governance. In National Review, the conservative magazine founded

by William F. Buckley Jr., Kevin D. Williamson offered this analysis: “We have seen withdrawals of consent before, and we will see more in the future. From cracked Texas secessionists and Cliven Bundy to the people throwing rocks at police in Ferguson, such gestures are rarely altogether admirable, but that does not make them necessarily illegitimate. (I must confess that I’d have more sympathy with the protesters in Ferguson if they were setting fire to tax offices rather than convenience stores.) (Not that I’m endorsing setting fire to tax offices.)

(At this time.) And there are real reasons to consider the question of consent: From local politicians legally looting their communities to federal government that uses the IRS as a weapon of politics, there are real objections to be made. In practical terms, we have a government that interferes with our lives and livelihoods far more than did the one our Founders threw off. Which is not a call for revolution—it’s a call for rebalancing, for reestablishing exactly who works for whom.”

1

New Year’s Eve Party Casino-wide celebration with free party favors!

In merry measure Photo/Dennis Myers

Escalade will be playing great dance music and your favorite classics with a live countdown at midnight in the Cabaret!

Spectacular fireworks will illuminate Downtown Reno to send off 2014 and light up 2015!

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One of the bonuses of the holidays is lots of extra music. This event was a concert by the Valley Harpers on Beethoven’s birthday, played to a good-sized crowd in the Sparks Library auditorium. The group also played at the other branches of the county library during the season.

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45green The Nevada Small Farm Conference is on Jan. 22 to 24 at the Nugget in Sparks.

(Word count 490-510) DESIGN & EDITING INFO

Western Nevada College Specialty Crop Institute project director Ann Louhela has experience in marketing small farms.

Farming connections Nevada Small Farm Conference to be held in January The term “small farm” can be a little misleading. The farms that fit into this category include those of about a quarter of an acre and range all the way up to 400-to-500 acres. by Sage Leehey And that includes all kinds of farming operations in a variety of settings with a variety of techniques, so the Nevada Small Farm Conference covers sagel@ a diverse set of topics with 90-minute sessions and full-day pre-conference ne w s re v i e w . c o m workshops in order to try to meet the needs of all of those small farmers in the state. It will be on Jan. 22 to 24, and early bird registration rates end soon—Dec. 31.

“The theme of our conference is ‘Nevada, we’re growing things here,’” said NSFC chairperson Ann Louhela. “So we look at new trends in agriculture. We also look at things that are really important right now, like drought and water use. We try to keep it well-rounded. We do things on business planning and marketing and management, crop production, animal production, urban farms, rural farms.”

The conference is statewide, and there will be three speakers from Southern Nevada this year. But Louhela approximates that about 80 percent of the attendees are from Northern Nevada, and it has always taken place in the North, as well. She added that some attendees also come from areas in California and Oregon with similar growing conditions to those in Nevada.

It will be at the Nugget in Sparks with the Friday Night Mixer at the Ranch House at Rancho San Rafael Park.

The workshops will take place on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and there are four to choose from—Farm 2 Glass: Sourcing for Local Breweries and Distilleries, Hoophouse Production, Maximize Your Visibility with For more information, visit nevadafarmconSocial Media, and Organic Certification: Stories from the Field. There are 20 ference.com.

90-minute sessions on Friday and Saturday, and attendees will choose five of these to attend. There will also be two keynote speakers on Friday and one on Saturday as well as the annual NevadaGrown meeting on Saturday morning.

The 90-minute sessions are all across the board. The topics range from cut flowers, berries, beekeeping and urban farming to permaculture, agritourism, marketing, conservation practices and crop diseases. Louhela said the education provided in the sessions and workshops is a great way for farmers to stay updated on the industry.

“Agriculture changes daily just like everything else,” she said.

The whole point of the conference, according to Louhela, is to get everyone talking, networking and learning together.

“To me, that’s the big thing to get out of the conference,” Louhela said.

“We have all these businesses and all these consumers here, and it’s about tying all these local farms to the local foods, whether it’s berries for the restaurants or grains and different things for breweries.”

The conference started in 2003, but it did not run from 2006 through 2009. It is now put on by a committee made up of members from Western Nevada College, the University of Nevada, Reno, small farms, small businesses and government agencies. The committee expects about 200 to 250 attendees this year. Ω

10 | RN&R |

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O

ne of the great things about our annual 95-Word fiction contest is the way themes arise out of the ether, which gives us insight into cultural memes. This year, the cultural mind was on sex, farts and death, two of the three of which are included in all great literature since paper was invented. We think we’ve finally found a time that makes sense to publish our winners’ works, so keep an eye open around the holidays next year. Congratulations to our winners, and thanks to everyone who entered. Several of our editors remarked that this was one of the best years for quality entries.

Here are tHe top 20 stories in our annual 95-Word Fiction contest

photos by eric MarKs

Answer

By Madeleine Williams

She walks back down the driveway. Face closed, shoulders back. You do not know which is whiter: the envelope or her eyes, wide in the afternoon sun. Has the parcel weight in her soft hands?

Drawing near, you hear her controlled breaths, quick uneven gait. The grass is greening beneath the snow—the moment breaks—she is all joy and arms around you. The envelope is thick and heavy with paper possibility.

In irrevocable black letters, it bears your address, her name, and the seal of Duke University.

You will lose her.

Madeleine is a senior at Wooster High School and National Novel Writing Month Winner. She is a longtime reading addict and writing fanatic, and hopes to continue all her life. Though a sixth-generation Nevadan, Madeleine has applied to several out-of-state colleges and hopes to receive a favorable answer.

“ BIGGEST Little STOrIES” continued on page 14

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“ BIGGEST Little STorIES” continued from page 13

Tempo

Feng Shue

By Jose Skinner

By Bill Jackson

He played Joplin right. Most people blaze through ragtime as if the Entertainer had a train to catch.

But not him.

He didn’t play too fast and almost no trace of swing. Instead, he settled into each syncopated beat with nothing to prove. I’d watch his left hand bounce on the keys, keeping the bassline buoyant. The melody in his right sailed on the steady pulse.

So when he kissed me— finally!—I knew it’d be unhurried, giving the moment room to breathe.

I listened to our mouths melting over the thump of my heartbeat.

Jose Skinner is music pastor at The Bridge Church, the father of three kids who are all beautiful and brilliant, and the husband of one sweet wife whose demeanor hides her iron will. He says the inspiration for the story came from a combination of ideas: First was a Scott Joplin quote, in which Joplin said this ragtime shouldn’t be played too fast, and the second was about a housewife who finally learned to play piano.

First Date There’s always an awkward silence on the first date, especially when you’re sitting around playing 20 questions with a person you just met.

“What’s your favorite color?”

I turned with a pique expression, “I don’t have one.”

He gasped dramatically, acting stunned.

“Everyone has a favorite color!”

He exclaimed.

I gave a small shrug.

“Mine’s yellow.”

I looked at him, raising my eyebrow. “Why?” “Because it’s the color of happiness!” He grinned cheekily.

“And the color of piss,” I smirked.

He rolled his eyes mumbling.

Needless to say, there probably won’t be a second date.

—Bill Jackson

The Simple Secret of the Plot The breakfast crowd buzzed in the background while the quintet (minus one) laughed.

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DECEMBER 24, 2014

“I like cake,” one said, “but only as a frosting delivery vehicle.”

Thomas didn’t hear. He monitored the door, ready to act uninterested.

But when she did arrive, he tensed, mesmerized by the violet aura surrounding her.

The four became five, but the pair didn’t acknowledge one other.

Although three hours ago he’d kissed her lips swollen.

Nobody remarked on them, so the two pretended things weren’t different. And they weren’t. But now everything, if only secretly, was out in the open.

—Jose Skinner

Flip Me Over Paddling out through the ice on Tahoe, I aimed my board for the deepest point. When the GPS showed I had 1600 feet of water below, I fell backward, gradually sinking into the depths like a leaf detached from an autumn branch. Some of my weights fell away leaving me floating face up, neutrally buoyant below the thermocline. The cold had paralyzed me, yet left my eyes and mind functioning. Just when I began to look forward to seeing the dawn, a night fisherman’s line caught my suit and turned me over facing the blackness.

—J. Tyler Ballance

Buck and Duke were in trouble. Two years out on the range had spoiled their feelings of ease around women.

They sought help in Barnes and Noble. “Buns and Nipples,” Duke had joked.

Later, their State Fair Budweisers washed away everything they had learned. Buck moved toward a woman, noticing her toddler only after the words had left his mouth.

“Hey, Baby,” he said, “Wadda ya say we feng some shoo-wee?” He was anxiously wondering whether he had said it right and feeling relief that she had apparently not heard him. But her husband had.

B. Jackson works at Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services where his clients and he play with the contents of their consciousness. He wrote the 11 stories that he submitted this year about seven years ago, when he had time for such fun; since then he has married, doubled his work hours, tripled his kids, and more. He has enjoyed writing tales that toy with the boundaries of expectations.

Life After Death Harry made a mistake. It wasn’t his worst, but it was up there in his opinion. By sending Madelyn a “like” on a dating site, he found himself in a relationship, the first in the 10 years since his wife’s passing.

He liked Madelyn all right. They were both 60. He appreciated her maturity and acceptance of his quirks.

“Action movies? Love them.

French toast every Sunday? Perfect,” she’d said.

The sex was better than he’d expected. But was it worth all the guilt? Harry thought it over. Maybe he would wait to find out.

—Sue Edmondson

Road Kill So I’m driving down the street, and this squirrel is sauntering across the road like he owns the place, right? So I swerve to miss the damn thing, and I end up hitting a patch of black ice.

The car fishtails and, like an idiot, I hit the accelerator instead of the brakes wondering why I keep going faster.

A clash hit my ears like a tidal wave.

The crunching of metal, the tinkling of glass as it shattered.

Before everything went dark, I caught a short glimpse of that fucking

squirrel chattering in mockery.

—Meghan Meredith

Last Goodbyes The ship was slowly drifting away from the dock, its young occupant’s mood ranging from unreasonable optimism to cynical resignation. Some were waving their new caps to the throng on the quay, but most were silently staring back along streets to towns far away and to loved ones not to be seen again. A distant tug’s horn sounded.

“They aren’t coming back, are they”. The boy made it statement rather than a question.

“Not all of them,” said the old man, steadying himself on the boy’s shoulder.

“Not nearly enough of them” he whispered quietly.

—Mike Gully

Untitled Choking a scream, Barbie surfaces from dreaming she is a cabbage-patch doll. Tense in the sweat-soaked sheets, she exhales the bulgy and ugly-cute memory. She rolls toward the nightstand, squinting at the clock; it’s way too early to get up. She sighs a quiet “Shit,” lays back, and turns the bedside light on anyway. Comforted

by the familiar pink, she stares at the ceiling, then runs her hands over her face―she will check for freckles in the morning. Her hand on Ken’s thigh silences his snoring. She remembers his “I do,” and is gone.

—Bill Jackson

Cassoulet Lilith—demon waitress—screaming through the swinging doors rs on leathery wings, followed by the din of Jazz and light conversation. Her command is abrupt and a seeming horde of minions follows. We take the line, exhausted but prepared to throw back another assault.

The incantation has served us well many times before: “Leg of mallard, belly of pig, haricots blancs, saucisson and fig!”

Dancing down the greasy tiles of the Saturday night knife fight, fending off the blaze with a dented saute…

Who decided double-breasted cotton was good armor against hot oil, fire and blades?

—Scott Cinelli

Crimes and Mousedemeanors It was the biggest score Rosie the Mouse had ever been part of. Over

twenty different grains and seeds and nuts and fruit …

“How are supposed to get in dere?” Louie the Rat sneered. He was going to be trouble, Rosie decided.

“Easy, Louie! We crawl up the drainpipe, scratch open the screen and lever open the glass door. They keep it open at night …” I said, hoping he wouldn’t ask why.

“Why?” asked Louie.

“Why what?” replied Roise.

“Why do dey keep it open?” said Louie.

“Because it’s for the cat,” replied Slick Slim.

—Mike Gully

High Pressure It’s meet-the-parents night, and I’ve always been basically shy so I feel awkward. We sit down to dinner.

The two bowls of green pea soup I had for lunch are causing incredible gas build up, but can’t fart no matter what. It’s getting worse. Must release test fart and maybe it won’t smell. Open sphincter muscle valve 10%, sample released. Testing air through olfactory receptor neurons.

Testing, testing, testing, SHUT DOWN SHUT DOWN, CLOSE SPHINCTER MUSCLE 100%. All gas unsuitable for release. Move to plan B. Make excuse to go out to car.

—Cory Bedell

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Taillight

cerulean patterned drapes down, never daring to move them because everyone would know our dirty little secret.

That we’re not as perfect as they thought.

Head down.

Taillight out.

Mailbox that’s missing a little red flag one mile back.

She straightens from her hunched position over the steering wheel.

Leather. Decades stacked like playing cards in a deck. She looks around her. The first parking lot she had seen in a mile.

Rain puddles gather the neon light from the darkness and reflect it back to her. In one she reads “OPEN” and “BUDWEISER”.

Out she goes, crossing spaces. In she goes, ringing a bell atop the door of a lonely bar.

“That’s how I met your mom,” dad says.

—Brianna Shepperd

Helping Hand I felt the three pairs of judgmental eyes on me, drilling holes in my skull. The incompetent little guy froze on the carpet as I crouched down, a napkin in hand.

My mother, on the verge of breaking down into a sea of tears, sobbed. “You need help!”

We both hated this situation, and creepy-crawlies.

My dad said absolutely nothing.

He was testing me, and probably lovin’ it.

“I don’t need help. I’m fine!”

Let’s face it. If I couldn’t kill one little bug, I clearly wasn’t as manly as my dad and I thought.

—Amy Ellis

The Perfect Family Everyone thinks our family is perfect.

I suppose that’s what they’re supposed to believe from our annual Christmas cards with our bogus smiles and the matching ugly suede sweaters attached with the flawed greeting in flashy-red on top, Happy Holidays from our perfect family.

My father is the cheater.

My brother the smoker.

And my mother the drinker.

As for me, I’m the failure.

We keep the ugly, crimson and

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—Brianna Shepperd

Remote Control Frank cranked up the volume on the game and dropped the TV’s remote control into the crevasse between his thigh and the cushion. He grabbed the controller for the 4x4 monster truck and thumbed the throttle forward. The dog’s head jerked up when it heard the engine whine. Too

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late. Too close. It yelped, leapt up and ran.

Laughing, Frank drained the last of his PBR, crushed the can and threw it onto the floor.

“Another beer!” he yelled.

Anne sucked her bloody lip and loaded the last bullet in the revolver.

Remote.

Controlled.

—John Bianchi

Sex In The 80s She said “take off your clothes, let me look at you”. She dropped her nightgown...slowly. Gabe was 86.

Michaela was 84.

Together for 60 years, their lovemaking was as usual. Passionate, erotic, wild and adventuresome.

Gabe was an accomplished lover.

Michaela kissed and touched in ways that flamed one’s passion.

Lying there in their bed, spent and smiling, Michaela said, “Still great”.

Gabe mused “You were so prim and proper when I met you. Who would have known you were such an erotic wildcat in bed?

Michaela said, coyly, “I wasn’t, until I met you.”

—Michael James Millerick

Amends

home. It was surreal. Bullet through skin, flesh on floor.

They were dead. She knew.

Recalling the beige carpet now splashed and stained with such red sin.

It was murder, two counts of it.

They were gone.

But she believed she could fix it.

It wasn’t a mystery; she knew the full answer to this predicament. She knew exactly who the murderer was.

One foot out, through the window, she shivered. Before she gathered her resolved and jumped fully off—killing the killer at last.

—Pauline Nipay

Untitled Ten o’clock on a Saturday morning meant taking the bus to his apartment. It meant visiting him, as I always had to. I sat near him on the tattered leather couch, choking on cigarette smoke and silence while watching the television which now portrayed waves of angry protestors.

I collected a deep breath and said, “What do you think, Dad?” He muttered a few profanities, laughed, then replied “We should line them up against a wall and shoot them.”

I knew then there was something incredibly malicious in this world; something we might never end.

—Alexandra Akre

She will always remember the gunshots that echoed through her

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Whether you’re picking up a lastminute Christmas gift of buying food and drinks for a New Year’s Eve party, we’ve got you covered

Buying gifts for the holidays can be complicated, stressful and expensive.

And even when Christmas is over, there’s still New Year’s, which means another slew of parties and gatherings.

But great food and great booze is almost always a hit regardless of who you’re buying for. Unless, of course, you’re gifting odd-colored jellied fruitcake— does anyone actually like fruitcake?

Buying locally, too, is a great way to impress your out-of-town family members who think Reno’s food scene is limited to casinos and diners (although there are plenty of gems there as well). It helps support small business owners, stimulate the local economy, and ensure that food is grown and produced regionally, which ripples beyond just the economic advantages and into the environmental.

For a one-stop-shop for all things Nevada sourced, the Buy Nevada First Gift Shop and Visitors Center in the Reno Town Mall sells only Nevadamade foods and goods. But if you’re up for a Reno scavenger hunt tracking down the best of the best, we’ve compiled this guide to help get you on your way.

To help jumpstart this for the new year, we’ve rounded up a selection of

gift suggestions from local vendors, and we’re categorizing them as eat, treat, drink and imbibe. What’s great is that there are so many awesome places to get local food and drinks that it just wasn’t impossible to include every place in Northern Nevada, but for those of you floundering in last-minute shopping or looking for a stellar post-Christmas gift, this is a good place to start.

Eat Food is a foolproof gift—everyone needs to eat, and most of us enjoy it immensely—but if you’re a little iffy on what food will go over well, try a gift card or a membership to these local haunts.

A membership to the Great Basin Community Food Co-Op is a gift that keeps on giving; members get better prices on everything in the market, and they’ll be member-owners of one of Reno’s few cooperative organizations.

Within the co-op, a mix of local and organic goods—some of which are both—can be purchased for gifts.

Both the co-op and the new Reno Provisions (shop.bighornoliveoil.com/) market support for the Distributors of Regional and Organic Produce and

Products (DROPP) program, which means they stock produce and goods from local farms. Reno Provisions, which just opened in early December (See 15 Minutes, p. 35), has gift cards available and an assortment of Nevadamade goods stocked on their shelves.

To go all-out on food, consider a Nevada-themed gift box from the Flag Store (www.eventflags.com/) in Sparks.

They package Nevada goods—coffee, jam, condiments and more—in a box shaped like the state of Nevada. Since it’s the state 150th anniversary, this makes for a thoughtful gift for a proud Nevadan.

If you want to buy for the chef who has everything, consider giving a condiment that will add to their enjoyment of cooking. Big Horn Olive Oil (http://shop.bighornoliveoil.com/) has regular or infused olive oils starting at $12.95. Truckee-based Sunshine Herbals (sunshineherbals.net) has loose herbs, infusions or sprays available online or in-store.

Treat There’s no shortage of treats around the holiday seasons, but why buy day-old cookies from a grocery store when you

can support local bakeries and indulge in decadent, handcrafted day-old desserts?

For chocolate lovers, Dorinda’s Chocolate (dorindaschocolates.com/) at 727 Riverside Drive, offers holidaythemed goodies like Jolly Bark ($12), Pepper Minties ($24) and Eggnog Brandie Truffles ($22).

Rounds Bakery (roundsbakery. com/) on 294 E. Moana Lane. has favorites like donut holes. They also bake seasonal breads for holidays throughout the year. Reno staples Homage (http://homagebakeryreno. weebly.com/) and Josef’s Vienna Bakery (http://josefsvienna.com/) have an array of pastries that make for a great party gift or a special treat.

Drink For your friends and family members who aren’t yet 21 or don’t drink, there’s still plenty of non-alcoholic options to find locally.

For those who love egg nog—spiked or not—a bottle of Francovich Holiday Egg Nog is a quintessential Reno treat. This egg nog is sold seasonally through major stores, but originates locally from the Francovich family, who

Spreading Cheers

Photo/Eric Marks

by Ashley Hennefer

16 | RN&R |

DECEMBER 24, 2014

make it every year and distribute it throughout the area. Sam Francovich is the owner of The Grill restaurant in Reno, and he and his family members recreate a recipe that started in Yugoslavia.

Pick up a bottle at many local retailers.

For coffee lovers, nearly every cafe in town has gift cards and locally roasted coffee for sale. Wood-Fire Roasted Coffee Company (http://woodfireroasted. com/), at 30 Ohm Place in Reno, offers sample coffee kits, brewing apparatuses, and whole bean bags through their website and their storefront. Hub Coffee Roasters (http://hubcoffeeroasters.com) has shelves full of local coffee, as well as mugs and brewing stations. The Roasting House (www.theroastinghouse.com/) micro-roaster in Reno and Virginia City offers 12 oz. roasted coffee starting at $12.

For your 21-and-over friends and family, Reno offers some excellent options for top-notch alcohol. Bringing a bottle of booze is the perfect host gift for a holiday get-together, and is sure to spur some quality bonding.

Verdi Local Distillery (www. verdilocaldistillery.com/), one of Nevada’s few authentic distilleries, offers locally distilled flavored whiskey for $20 a bottle.

Local brewery IMBĪB— currently fundraising and seeking out a permanent location to set up shop—hosts a Beverage Club, in which members can subscribe to receive a new beer every month.

This starts at $16 per month, and you can collaborate with the brewers to make custom beer.

For do-it-yourselfers who love homebrewing, buying ingredients in lieu of ready-to-consume alcohol is sure to be a hit. For these folks, Mike Higdon of DrinkableReno. com recommends a bitters kit from High Desert Botanicals in Carson City (starting at $33). High Desert Botanicals (http://highdesertbotanicals.com/) offers all sorts of ingredients for home brewers, and they even come packaged in beautiful cases. Add to this gift with a ticket to High Desert Botanicals’ and 1864 Tavern’s bitters blending class on Jan. 17. Home brewers will also enjoy supplies or ingredients from the Reno Homebrewer (www. renohomebrewer.com/) store on Dickerson Road, which stocks brewing paraphernalia and kits for more than just beer, such as cheese or bread.

If your favorite restaurant or shop isn’t on this list, be sure to call and see if they offer a gift certificate—or just take your friends out to dinner, on you. Ω

Get SYPHILIS AND HIV tested.

Call (775) 328-6147 for free and confidential testing.

Katu Baumann owns the Verdi Local Distillery.

90 Auto Center Dr.

For additional information visit www.washoecounty.us/health/cchs/std.html

This message brought to you by the Washoe County Health District with grant funding from the CDC through the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health.

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Photo/Brad Bynum

For the birds

Josie Luciano transformed the Holland Project Gallery into a forest.

Josie Luciano In the Holland Project Gallery right now, there’s a forest of trees—Sycamores to be exact—but cut by at the top and the bottom, to give gallery Brad Bynum visitors the odd sensation of floating through the space a few feet above the bradb@ news review.c om ground, midway along the tree trunks. On the trees, and on five window boxes spaced throughout the gallery, are dozens of birds.

They’re not actual birds, but amorphous bird shapes, vaguely songbird-like, but made of the Forest by Josie porcelain, so they might seem fragile, and Luciano and I See how It Is by Christina all white, so they might seem ghost-like.

Lee runs Jan. 9 at the Reactions to the birds vary depending holland Project Gallery, on the visitor’s cultural associations and 140 Vesta St. For more feelings toward the natural world. For the information, visit www. hollandreno.org Thoreau-reading nature lover, the birds might be beautiful. For the horror movie buff, the birds might evoke the ominous In addition to her suspense of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. work at the holland “This exhibit simulates the feeling of Project, Luciano has another exhibit being watched while asking viewers to opening Jan. 8 at the examine their emotions as they emerge from hub, 32 Cheney St. For an innocent, sinister or reverent woods,” more information, visit reads Josie Luciano’s artist statement on www.josieluciano.com the wall in the gallery. She intends her art installation to give gallery visitors their own

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Her current exhibition in the Holland gallery is called simply The Forest. Each of the logs was measured for its specific location in the gallery, because there’s a five-inch slope to the ceiling. There are 130 porcelain birds in the space—Luciano says she made even more but there were “causalities” during installation. The exhibition is on display through Jan. 9, alongside I See How It Is, a collection of drawings by University of Nevada, Reno graduate and Los Angeles resident Christina Lee. Another aspect of Luciano’s exhibition is a series of shoeboxes on a wall facing the front window of the gallery. Each shoebox

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subjective responses to the experience of an animal gaze.

Luciano moved to Reno from the Midwest seven years ago. She’s the founder of Urban Roots, a gardening education nonprofit, and now serves on its board.

She’s a mother and works as a freelance graphic web designer. She has been exhibiting artworks for the last two years at a number of local venues, including The Generator, Never Ender and Reno Little Theater. Her last exhibit was Carbon Copy at the Neapolitan Gallery in the local bar Monolith. It was a series of drawings she did copying the drawing movements of her infant daughter, whose drawings were also exhibited.

“They looked the same, but they were kind of made with opposite intentions,” said Luciano. “Hers is pure expression. Mine was replication, imitation, surveillance, killing myself with worry, all these things that were dredged up about myself and the control that I try to exact on my life—things I didn’t realize it was about.”

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interior is painted white but with an outlined bird silhouette left unpainted at the center, as though it had once been used as an avian coffin. The silhouettes create the sensation of birds having been there—a sensation of absence and loss.

“Even as we’re burying the natural world, we’re projecting our death rituals onto them, but the absence of the body, the absence of the birds’ will, that’s a big part of it, too,” said Luciano, describing the boxes.

For Luciano, birds sometimes represent the rest of the natural world, and, for this exhibit, the other animals that might watch humans out in the natural world.

“I think a lot of people think of birds as a proxy for the natural world,” she said. “It seems like a natural stand-in. They’re free, and they’re beautiful, and they’re smart, but they’re also very projected upon. Which is kind of the idea here. You come in and you have an experience based on your relationship to nature. It might feel whimsical to people or it might feel a little malicious.” Ω

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Dive on in Ryan’s Saloon 924 S. Wells Ave., 323-4142

On Wells Avenue, there’s a small brick building (circa 1957) that could be called an Irish bar, a music bar, or perhaps a by Todd South dive bar. I prefer the term “neighborhood bar.” There are wooden plaques on the walls in memory of friends and family passed on, and plenty of memorabilia sure to spark stories for those who remember. A newcomer might feel out of place, but if you’re like me and appreciate above-average bar grub with a healthy dose of character, Ryan’s Saloon & Broiler (est. 1974) is a must-visit part of “old” Reno.

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Clamp down on a Western burger from Ryan's Saloon.

Ryan’s Saloon & Broiler is open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. with breakfast served 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

I’ve been to Ryan’s for live music nights, but felt it was time to try the food during the light of day, and with perhaps a higher degree of sobriety. The broiler and bar space are one and the same, usually with a single person doing double-duty as bartender and short order cook. Fast food this ain’t, but your patience will be rewarded if you’re looking for a meal of comfort food made fresh to order.

Upon entry during a Saturday afternoon, my wife and I were met by a group of men well in their cups, singing jukebox tunes with enthusiasm and—surprisingly enough— three-part harmony. I ordered our food and some draft beer in order to catch up with the crowd. Bud, Bud Light, and PBR is drawn in $3 pints and enormous $6 schooners.

Deep-fried cheese curds appeared first ($5), little nuggets of chewy, cheesy goodness served with ranch

dressing. It’s a good thing we were hungry; you could easily split one order between 3-4 people. There’s nothing fancy about this snack, making a perfect pairing with massmarket American lager.

My wife and I were torn between the giant cheeseburger with fries ($8) or Mac’s famous Reuben ($7.75), so we ordered both and split them between us. The burger was served medium rare with big slices of onion and beefsteak tomato, iceberg lettuce and pickle chips on a giant bun. The cheese and beef were melded just as they should be, with a house “secret sauce” adding a little extra tang and zip to one of the better burgers in town.

The french fries are made to order, cut from fresh potatoes with the skin left on and fried golden brown. Requiring just a sprinkling of salt to be perfect, frozen potatoes can’t compete with fries this honest.

Not to be outdone, the Reuben’s expertly-grilled rye bread was crispy, stuffed with lean and tender pastrami, sauerkraut, and melted Swiss cheese. The sandwich was served so fresh and hot, there was no time for it to get soggy on the plate.

While eating lunch, we noticed breakfast is served on Sundays, so back we went the next morning.

Chicken fried steak is served with three eggs, toast, and an entire skinon potato, cubed by hand and turned into home fries. The steak was easily cut with a fork and the gravy had good flavor, though not as much sausage or black pepper as I prefer.

The only misstep were eggs cooked “over hard” rather than medium as ordered. I gave this a pass being the man cooking breakfast was also serving drinks in rapid fashion to several people watching the game.

The Bloody Mary accompanying my meal had a decent level of heat, amplified by a noticeable quantity of garlic ($5). I do like 'em chunky.

As we paid the check and headed out, I noticed an older gentleman sitting in the same stool he’d been in the day before. I don’t know if it was the red T-shirt—wink, wink—and sweats or his long gray and white beard, but any place that’s good enough for Santa is good enough for me. Ω

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Lost

3

Into the Woods Disney’s version of Into the Woods is utterly clueless and boring, an adaptation that renders something that was totally fun into something totally dreary.

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1987 Broadway hit was a slightly sick, plucky wink at the audience, an almost mocking look at the dark side of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. As by captured in the 1991 American Playhouse Bob Grimm broadcast starring Bernadette Peters, it was a 150-minute romp with an adult sense of bgrimm@ newsreview.c om humor. It was hardly the stuff of Disney.

Director Rob Marshall has cut his film version to just over two hours, yet it feels twice as long. On stage, the music of Into the Woods was perky, tightly choreographed, consistently funny and almost frantic.

1

Meryl Streep wanders through the wilderness, searching for her hairbrush.

1 Poor

2 Fair

3 Good

4 Very Good

5 excellent

24 | RN&R |

In the movie, most of the songs just fart along. The singers search for the emotive, warm, soulful qualities in Sondheim and Lapine’s musical. The problem with that is the original musical didn’t really emphasize those qualities. It was more of an intelligent, operatic goof, not a feel-good musical.

This is just another Princess movie, void of humor and clumsily staged. Marshall shoots most of the film on a soundstage, and while that’s admirable as far as catching live music, it has a bland, monotonous look to it.

The story puts a humorous spin on characters such as Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Jack (Daniel Huttlestone) from “Jack and the Beanstalk,” and Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy).

Most of the film’s plot centers on the Baker (James Corden) and the Baker’s Wife (Emily Blunt), cursed into a childless marriage by the Witch (Meryl Streep) after somebody messed with her garden. While Corden and Blunt sing well, their work is missing something.

DECEMBER 24, 2014

Only Streep manages to capture that strange Sondheim whimsy. She is far and away the best thing about the movie.

Streep takes her musical moments, like “Witch’s Entrance,” and rises above the production. “Witch’s Entrance” happens early in the film, and at a point when things are slightly promising. That promise gets dashed on the rocks in moments like Crawford’s dreadful, wrongfully earnest rendition of “I Know Things Now,” Red Riding Hood’s postwolf encounter recollection. Sondheim’s wit is totally lost on Crawford and Marshall.

Johnny Depp shows up for a few minutes as The Wolf in a stupid outfit that makes him look more feline than canine. His “Hello, Little Girl,” a song that is supposed to be rife with innuendo, sounds more like an animal who just wants to eat some food. Marshall and Depp give the number a slow, crooning presentation, taking away its former jaunty, obnoxious edge. It’s just wrong.

Blunt, Corden and Kendrick deliver their numbers as if they were in The Sound of Music rather than a clever fairy tale parody. Tracey Ullman changes Jack’s Mother from a snarky bit of comic relief into a disgruntled, cranky mum.

Huttlestone, who was awesome in the latest Les Miserables movie, does nothing memorable with Jack.

Understandably, Marshall has completely deleted the character of The Narrator from the proceedings. The Narrator acted as a ringmaster in the stage show, and simply couldn’t transition into the movie as a physical presence. Instead, Marshall has Corden’s Baker character provide a typical voiceover that lends nothing in the ways of fun.

The final act involving the Giant’s Wife terrorizing the countryside falls flat due to terrible special effects. Perhaps Into the Woods is a stage musical that has no business being adapted to the big screen.

Still, in those few moments where Streep soars, I can’t help but think a director with a more twisted vision, and a studio with a little more balls, could’ve given us something more suitable to Sondheim and Lapine (who, oddly enough, participated in the film’s production).

Dreamworks and Tim Burton did a masterful job with their very R-rated Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Disney should’ve taken a few cues from them, and allowed Into the Woods to retain its sense of mischief rather than neutering it. Ω

Annie

Confession time: I have always hated the musical Annie, and I really hated the original movie directed by John Huston. Growing up in New York, that damn play was shoved down my throat every day when it was playing on Broadway. So I had no hope for the new film version, especially after the first wave of reviews came out. I’m going against the grain a bit on this one. No, it’s not a great film, but it’s surprisingly fun and pleasant one. It still has that awful music in it, and no amount of autotuning and remixing can fix that dreck. What makes the movie fun is a goofy turn from Jamie Foxx as the billionaire who takes in orphan Annie (Quvenzhane Wallis). The two have a good rapport, and their fun work cancels out grating work from Cameron Diaz as Hannigan (played

by Carol Burnett in the original film) and Rose Byrne’s terrible singing. I admit to laughing at this movie a lot more than I thought I would, and Wallis qualifies as my all time favorite Annie. It’s a good family film.

2

Horrible Bosses 2

While the first Horrible Bosses got by on the charms of its three stars, the second one winds up being a near miss. Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) have decided to go into business for themselves after the events of the first film. They wind up on TV pitching a stupid idea called the Shower Buddy, where they are seen by Rex (Chris Pine), the son of billionaire businessman Bert Hanson (Christoph Waltz). This leads to that, and the boys wind up in a kidnapping scheme involving Rex trying to double-cross his dad. The screenplay strains to bring back the likes of Jennifer Aniston as the naughty dentist and Kevin Spacey as the embittered ex boss. It also doesn’t help that Day and Sudeikis are a bit overwrought this time out, their acts getting a little tired. It should be noted that Bateman is easily the funniest thing about this movie, effortlessly smarmy as always. I laughed a fair amount of times, but felt like the three stars would be better served with all new material and premise. I like seeing them together, but they need a new place to play.

1

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

And with this, the Hobbit movies, mercifully, come to an end. No more stretching a one-hour story into three over-long films. No more Orlando Bloom making love to his stupid face with his own voice. The third, much unneeded chapter in Peter Jackson’s ill-begotten treatment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s wonderful novel is less an event than it is a final cash grab.

If you should choose to see it, don’t waste your money on high frame rate, IMAX options because the result is a visual disaster. I stand by my guns; HFF technology is fine for the home theater but it sucks balls on the theater big screen. Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is reduced to a supporting role—in a film named after his character!—after the dragon Smaug is slain. Five armies, including dwarves, orcs, elves, men and who gives a shit, start battling over the riches Smaug gathered, with a glowing stone being the final prize. Thorin, a dwarf leader, gets “dragon sickness” and things get dumber from there. It all amounts to a big nothing, with all of the charms of Jackson’s first, masterful Lord of the Rings trilogy lost in a sea of too shiny special effects and terrible, terrible acting. A few years back, I was championing Jackson’s efforts to get this made. When Guillermo del Toro bowed out as director, I saw it as a blessing because Jackson took over. Boy, was I ever wrong.

3

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part One

After a rousing second chapter, the Hunger Games franchise gets a little darker and introverted in its third installment. The results are perhaps a slight step back from the truly winning film that was Catching Fire, but you are still dealing with a good movie in this one. Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), after being rescued following her complete annihilation of The Hunger Games, is being used as a propaganda tool to get at the evil Capitol government and its wily leader, President Snow (Donald Sutherland).

As it turns out, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) survived the second movie, and is being used as a propaganda tool as well (He’s being held

captive by the Capitol). A lot of this movie takes place underground and in the dark, with a few good action sequences. It should be said that this only covers half of the third book in the popular series, and everything builds up to quite the cliffhanger ending.

Lawrence is good here, although a couple of scenes are a bit jarring, and not in a good way. She does get a chance to sing, and she sings quite well. Philip Seymour Hoffman completed his role before his death, and he’s typically great.

4

The Theory of Everything

3

Top Five

4

Wild

The marriage of Stephen and Jane Hawking takes center stage in director James Marsh’s sweet and powerful depiction of love in the face of adversity. The film showcases the talents of Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables), who gives a remarkable performance as Hawking, renowned physicist and eventual Pink Floyd vocalist. Redmayne depicts a relatively healthy Hawking at first, a slightly awkward but brilliant Cambridge student smitten with classmate Jane Wilde (Felicity Jones of Like Crazy). Redmayne transforms as the film progresses, slowly but surely depicting the physical deterioration of Hawking as he suffers from ALS. Jones is equally powerful as Hawking’s first wife, a woman who refused to let him waste away after his diagnosis. The two marry knowing that the road ahead will be a rough one. Hawking’s initial prognosis had him living no more than two years, a prediction he has outlived by about 50 years. The movie is a love story first, with Hawking’s musings about black holes and the origins of the universe taking a back seat.

Redmayne and Jones are utterly convincing as the couple. Marsh treats their courtship in a magical, glimmering sort of way involving awkward school dances, followed by a memorable wedding sequence. The film unabashedly celebrates their romance.

Chris Rock writes, directs and stars in this semi-autobiographical look at a standup comedian turned film star looking for industry respect. After a string of movies about a cop in a bear suit and a bout with substance abuse, Andre Allen (Rock) is taking a break from standup and slapstick to do “serious” movies. On the day of a big premiere, a reporter (Rosario Dawson) tags along to interview him. Rock and Dawson are fun together, and a supporting cast that includes J.B. Smoove, Cedric the Entertainer, Gabrielle Union and, holy crap, Ben Vereen score a bunch of solid laughs. A sequence involving a coke-and-hooker party stands as one of the year’s funniest scenes, and Rock’s writing is solid throughout. As Chris Rock films go, this is his best starring vehicle by far. Adam Sandler and Jerry Seinfeld have hilarious walk-ons. Sandler actually hasn’t been this funny in years. Perhaps he should allow Rock to direct him all of the time.

Maybe Rock can turn that whole Grown Ups franchise around.

Reese Witherspoon, in her best role since Walk the Line, plays author Cheryl Strayed, who took it upon herself to do a solo trek on the Pacific Crest Trail after some tragedies in her life. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee (The Dallas Buyer’s Club), the film winds up not only being a fine showcase for Witherspoon, but a damn fine commercial for the PCT and those REI outdoor gear stores. The film opens on the not-so-pleasant sight of Strayed losing a toenail in bloody fashion to a wrong-sized boot, already days into her trek. It then flashes back a bit to the beginning of her hike, and takes a non-chronological approach to its plot.

We see moments in Strayed’s life when she makes a lot of mistakes involving infidelity and drugs, interspersed with her experience walking the trail. While being an uplifting film about redemption and Strayed’s personal triumphs, the movie also works as an authentic and informative film about the art of hiking. From Strayed’s struggles with her super huge backpack, to her reliance on trail tanks for water, to her stopovers at community outposts along the trail, you get a sense of what you might experience on such an expedition. Hopefully, this and her small role in this year’s Inherent Vice are indicative of more adventurous choices in Witherspoon’s future.

Sticking points Dissidence “We’re not just here to piss people off,” said Erin Litterer, the lead singer of Dissidence, a confrontational, by Anna Hart politically-fueled band from Reno.

“We’re here to send a message and make people think about their actions and know that words are weapons.”

Dissidence exhibits a ferocious antagonism that aligns with a presentday anarcho-punk renaissance. Their performances advance an incendiary agenda of egalitarianism, hurled through the air like a Molotov cocktail in the name of social change.

Photo/AnnA hArt

Erin Litterer, Ryan Porter and Austin Bunnell of the band Dissidence fight for equality.

As a three-piece group, Dissidence employs a stripped-down instrumentation, with Litterer joined

by Ryan Porter and Austin Bunnell on drums and guitar respectively.

The band falls into the category of blackened crust, a subgenre of punk rock that’s influenced by hardcore and anarcho-punk, seasoned with a little bit of black metal for good measure.

Although their music is stamped with a singular signature, the music of Dissidence is strongly influenced by bands like Aus-Rotten, Darkthrone and Iskra.

The music itself acts as a channel, through which Dissidence can advocate their message, as their belligerent cries against social injustice are underscored by a driving punk rock pulse, classic metal riffs and of course, some good old-fashioned hardcore breakdowns.

The lyrical content for Dissidence’s music is undeniably categorized by the causes the band stands for, like environmental consciousness, workers’ rights, and support of local businesses.

But, true to the form of punk ideology, it’s much easier to talk about what the trio stands against.

Dissidence puts up an aggressive opposition to vivisection, fascism,

Dissidence plays on January 9 at 8 p.m. at Ground Zero, 324 E. taylor St. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/ dissidencereno.

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homophobia, the coal industry, bodyshaming, and basically, any form of toxic oppression.

The main point that the group tries to push? Equality.

One of the biggest societal obstructions that Dissidence attempts to ravage through their music is the caste system that sexism creates.

It’s a sad obstacle that Litterer has had to face as a female musician.

“I’ve been told a couple of times, ‘All right sweetheart, you can’t be here during soundcheck,’” said Litterer.

All of the group are selfproclaimed feminists. With twothirds of the trio being males, this, in itself, spits in the face of the idea of feminism being a man-hating lynch mob. As they note a surge of gender discrimination and slut-shaming arising in the local punk scene, Dissidence destabilizes the rigid categories of sex at their shows.

“Sometimes, punk rock can be a boys’ club. But recently, a lot of the younger girls that go to shows and they see Erin and think, ‘OK, I’m not here to hold somebody’s jacket.’

Anyone can go to the front of the crowd and be a part of this,” said Porter.

Their brutally relentless songs make it easy to assume the members of Dissidence are nothing more than rabble-rousing hellraisers. Regardless of how they disseminate their views, the points stick.

But that doesn’t mean that they haven’t had their share of naysayers.

“We’ve had people who have walked out of our sets a few times,” says Bunnell.

Nonetheless, the general reception has been positive, especially with the numerous milestones Dissidence is set to reach in the next few months.

Dissidence is in preparations to record a three-track demo, set to be released sometime in February. Then in March, they’re set to play a weeklong tour, alongside Plague Widow from Sacramento and Implore from Germany, but not before they play at least one more show in Reno.

At the end of the day, the members of Dissidence are united by their ideals. But more importantly, by their bond.

“We’re best friends—we can sing about anarchism and feminism and then go down and eat pizza and watch It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” says Bunnell. Ω ART OF THE STATE

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THURSDAY 12/25

FRIDAY 12/26

SATURDAY 12/27

3RD STREET 125 W. Third St., (775) 323-5005

5 STAR SALOON 132 West St., (775) 329-2878

Dance party w/DJ DoublePlay, 10pm, no cover before 10pm, $5 after

A TO ZEN GIFTS & THRIFT

Open Mic Night, 7pm, no cover

1801 N. Carson St., Carson City; (775) 461-3311

Dec. 26, 9 p.m.

Crystal Bay Club 14 Highway 28 Crystal Bay 833-6333

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

CARGO AT WHITNEY PEAK HOTEL

NYE show w/Apple Z, 10pm, W, $10

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

CHAPEL TAVERN 1099 S. Virginia St., (775) 324-2244

Catch a Rising Star, Silver Legacy, 407 N. Virginia St., 329-4777: Rick D’Elia, Th, Su, 7:30pm, $15.95; F, 7:30pm, 10pm, $15.95; Sa, 7:30pm, 10pm, $17.95; K-von, Tu, 7:30pm, $15.95; NYE Bash with K-von, W, 7:30pm, 9:30pm, $25 The Improv at Harveys Cabaret, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Stateline, (800) 553-1022: James Stephens II, Marc Price, Th-F, Su, 9pm, $25; Sa, 8pm, 10pm, $30; John Henton, Sean Kent, W, 9pm, $25 Reno-Tahoe Comedy at Pioneer Underground, 100 S. Virginia St., 686-6600: Felipe Esparza, F, 8:30pm, Sa, 9:30pm, $17-$20; Su, 7:30pm, $15-$18; NYE Show w/Felipe Esparza, 6:30pm, $20-$25; 9:30pm, $23-$28

Open Mic w/Steve Elegant, 7pm, Tu, no cover NYE party, 10pm, W, $10

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

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

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

Dance party w/DJ DoublePlay, 10pm, no cover before 10pm, $5 after

BAR-M-BAR

CEOL IRISH PUB

Comedy

The Clarke Brothers, 9pm, no cover

Traditional Irish Tune Session, 7pm, Tu, no cover NYE party w/Ciana, 9pm, W, no cover

Neil O’Kane, 9pm, no cover

Good Friday with rotating DJs, 10pm, no cover

COMMA COFFEE

Carson Feet Warmers, 11:30am, Tu, no cover Dave Leather, noon, W, no cover

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

DAVIDSON’S DISTILLERY

Karaoke w/Nitesong Productions, 9pm, Tu, NYE party, W, 9pm, no cover

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

EL CORTEZ LOUNGE

Karaoke with Lisa Lisa, 9pm, no cover

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

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

ELBOW ROOM BAR

Pimps & Hoes NYE Celebration w/Pawnshop, 9pm, W, no cover

2002 Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 356-9799

ELEVENTH FRAME WINNER’S LOUNGE

DJ 80’s Joe, 7pm, no cover

4600 Snyder Ave., Carson City; (775) 883-2606

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

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

GREAT BASIN BREWING CO.

New Year’s Eve Party w/The Novelists and Tyler Stafford, 9pm, W, $20

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

THE GRID BAR & GRILL

Karaoke w/Andrew, 9pm, no cover

8545 N. Lake Blvd., Kings Beach; (530) 546-0300

HARRY’S SPORTS BAR & GRILL

DJ and karaoke, 9pm, no cover

Open mic, 7pm, no cover

YOU’RE WELCOME, NATURE.

RECYCLE THIS PAPER.

sushi all the time sushi all the time sushiall the time

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

highest quality highest&quality fresh fish & fresh dailyfish / take-out daily / take-out orders welcome orders welcome / full bar/ with full bar hot with & cold hotsake & cold sake

highest quality & fresh fish daily, take-out

Open 7 Days Opena7Week Days a/ Week Monday / Monday - Saturday - Saturday 11:30am 11:30am - 9:30pm - 9:30pm /with Sunday / 11:30am Sunday 11:30am - 9:00pm- 9:00pm orders welcome, full bar hot & cold sake

open 7 days a week at 11:00am

Last Seating: 775.589.2067 775.589.2067 195 highway highway 50.,daily stateline 50., stateline highest quality &195 fresh fish / take-out orders welcome full bar with sake Mon - Sat /9:30pm & hot Sun& cold 9:00pm 1/2 mile1/2 north mileofnorth the casinos of the casinos Open 7 Days a Week / Monday - Saturday1507 11:30am 9:30pmSt./- Sunday - 9:00pm sushipiertahoe.com sushipiertahoe.com So. -Virginia Midtown,11:30am Reno - 775.825.5225 775.589.2067 195 highway 50., stateline 1/2 mile north of the casinos sushipiertahoe.com

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MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 12/29-12/31 DG Kicks, 9pm, Tu, no cover NYE party w/Blue Haven, 9pm, W, $5

all you can eat all you can eat all you can eat

Pumpkin

SUNDAY 12/28

Holiday Hangover Comedy Festival, 9pm, $5

THAT’S HOW WE ROLL

Bass Heavy, 9pm, W, $TBA

THURSDAY 12/25

FRIDAY 12/26

SATURDAY 12/27

SUNDAY 12/28

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 12/29-12/31

HELLFIRE SALOON

NYE show w/Greg Golden Band, 9pm, W, $10

9825 S. Virginia St., (775) 622-8878

HIMMEL HAUS

Open Mic Night, 9pm, M, no cover

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

Post show s online by registe ring a www.newsr t eview.c om /re no. Dea lin d e is the Friday befo re publicati on .

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

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

MURPHY’S LAW IRISH PUB

Dec. 27, 7:30 p.m.

Harrah’s Lake Tahoe 15 Highway 50 Stateline 588-6611

AMP New Year, 10pm, W, $15

Suspect Zero, 10pm, W, no cover

180 W. Peckham Ln., (775) 823-9977

PADDY & IRENE’S IRISH PUB

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real

1) NYE Massacre w/Los Pistoleros, Mary Jane Rocket, 9pm, W, $3 2) Blazin Mics!, 10pm, M, no cover

DJ Razz, 9pm, no cover

906-A Victorian Ave., Sparks; (775) 358-5484

POLO LOUNGE

Gemini, 9pm, no cover

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

Gemini, 9pm, no cover

NYE Party w/Gemini, 8pm, W, no cover

RED DOG SALOON

Open Mic Night, 7pm, M, W, no cover

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

RUBEN’S CANTINA

The Novelists

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

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

RYAN’S SALOON

Dec. 31, 9 p.m.

Great Basin Brewing Co. 846 Victorian Ave. Sparks 355-7711

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

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

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

STUDIO ON 4TH 432 E. Fourth St., (775) 737-9776

Local Music Night w/locals bands or local DJs, 9pm, no cover

Dance party, 9pm, no cover

Tuesday Night Trivia, 8pm, Tu, no cover

Mongo Party: Feeki, Ozie Ogebebor, DRey, Ladies and Gentlemen, 8:30pm, $8

The End of the Year Party w/Natalie Wynters, DJ STATIQ, others, 10pm, $10

Bumpreno NYE party w/DJs, Adam Glass, Serg Rockwell, others, 9pm, W, no cover

WILD RIVER GRILLE

Sunday Jazz, 2pm, no cover

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

WILDFLOWER VILLAGE

3) Music in the Round, 6:30pm, M, no cover

4275-4395 W. Fourth St., (775) 787-3769 1) Golden Rose Cafe 2) Green Fairy Pub 3) Cabaret

2014 NEW YEAR’S EVE FREE SAFE RIDE Travel FREE on New Year’s Eve 6 pm - 2 am Viaje gratis en RTC RIDE en la víspera de Año Nuevo 6 pm - 2 am ?

2014 New Year’s Eve FREE Safe RIDE is sponsored by...

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IN ROTATION

775-348-RIDE rtcwashoe.com

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

BOOMTOWN CASINO HOTEL

2100 Garson Rd., Verdi; (775) 345-6000 1) Event Center 2) Guitar Bar

Four Color Zack Dec. 31, 8 p.m.

Peppermill 2707 S. Virginia St. 826-2121

THURSDAY 12/25

FRIDAY 12/26

SATURDAY 12/27

SUNDAY 12/28

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY 12/29-12/31

2) Hindsight, 8pm, no cover

2) Hindsight, 4pm, Atomika, 10pm, no cover

2) Hindsight, 4pm, Atomika, 10pm, no cover

2) Atomika, 8pm, no cover

2) Cook Book, 8pm M, Tu, W, no cover Atomika, 10pm, M, Tu, W, no cover

2) The Robeys, 6pm, no cover

2) Mike Furlong, 10pm, no cover

1) Spin Doctors, 7pm, $19.99-$59.99 2) Mike Furlong, 10pm, no cover

2) The Robeys, 6pm, no cover

2) The Robeys, 6pm, M, Jason King, 6pm, Tu, W, Steven Lord, 10pm, Tu, W, no cover

2) Steppen Stonz, 8pm, no cover

2) Steppen Stonz, 8pm, no cover

2) Jonathan Barton, 6pm, no cover

2) Jonathan Barton, 6pm, M, Tu, no cover

1) Pumpkin, 9pm, $10-$30

1) Jackie Greene Band, The Mother Hips, 1) Jackie Greene, 9pm, $25-$50 9pm, $32

1) Felipe Esparza, 8:30pm, M, $16-$19 1) NYE Party w/Jackie Greene Band, 10pm, W, $45-$65

1) Christmas Wonderland, 7pm, $19.95-$25.95 2) Steel Breeze, 10:30pm, no cover

1) Christmas Wonderland, 7pm, $19.95-$25.95 2) Steel Breeze, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Skyy High Fridays w/Roni Romance, 10pm, no cover

1) Christmas Wonderland, 3pm, 7pm, $19.95-$25.95 2) Steel Breeze, 10:30pm, no cover 3) Addiction Saturdays w/DJ Roni Romance, 10pm, no cover

2) Steel Breeze, 10:30pm, no cover

2) Live Band Karaoke, 10pm, M, DJ Chris English, 10pm, Tu, Garage Boys, 10:30pm, W, no cover

1) ZzyZyx 2, 8pm, $20

1) ZzyZyx 2, 8pm, $20 2) DJ Rick Gee, 10pm, no cover 3) Boots & Daisy Dukes w/DJ Jamie G, 10pm, no cover

1) ZzyZyx 2, 8pm, $20 2) DJ Enfo, 10pm, $30 3) County Social Saturdays w/DJ Jamie G, 10pm, no cover

1) ZzyZyx 2, 8pm, $20

2) NYE—The Black Tie Affair w/DJs Enfo, Nick Ferrer, 10pm, W, $30$60 5) New Year’s Eve Celebration, 9:30pm, W, $44.95

3) Arty the Party, 9pm, no cover

1) Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real, 7:30pm, $36.30 2) DJ Rick Gee, DJ SN1, 10pm, $20 3) Arty the Party, 9pm, no cover

1) Two Kings, 8pm, $29.50-$40.50 2) DJ/dancing, 10pm, no cover 3) Rock River, 8pm, no cover

1) Two Kings, 8pm, $29.50-$40.50 2) DJ/dancing, 10pm, no cover 3) Rock River, 8pm, no cover

1) Two Kings, 8pm, $29.50-$40.50

1) Two Kings, 8pm, M, Tu, W, $29.50-$40.50

3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, 11pm, no cover Josh Budro Band, 8pm, no cover

1) Saddle Tramps, 8pm, $15 3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, 11pm, no cover Josh Budro Band, 8pm, no cover

3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, Bikini Bull Riding Competition, 9pm, no cover

1) Jay White’s Neil Diamond Tribute, 8:15pm, W, $50-$75 3) DJ Trey, 6pm, W, no cover

3) Boogie Nights, 9pm, $10 4) Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

3) Boogie Nights, 9pm, $10 4) Karaoke, 9pm, no cover

2) Cliff Notes, 8pm, no cover 3) Fixx Fridays, 7:30pm, $10 after 8pm

2) Cliff Notes, 8pm, no cover

2) Drew Weseley Trio, 6pm, no cover

2) Drew Weseley Trio, 6pm, M, Tu, The Inciters, 9pm, W, no cover 3) “Tick Tock” EDGE NYE w/Four Color Zack, 8pm, W, $50-$55 4) NYE w/Maxxt Outt, 9:30pm, W, $65

2) Chris Gardner Band, 9pm, no cover 3) Fashion Friday, 9pm, no cover

2) Chris Gardner Band, 9pm, no cover 3) Seduction Saturdays, 9pm, $5

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

2) Rum Funk Bullion Party, 9pm, W, $20 3) Chill Your Aura Dance Party, 9pm, W, $20 4) New Year’s Eve Rocking The Dome Dance Party, 10pm, W, $40

CARSON VALLEY INN

2) Steppen Stonz, 8pm, no cover 1627 Hwy. 395, Minden; (775) 782-9711 1) Valley Ballroom 2) Cabaret Lounge 3) TJ’s Corral

CRYSTAL BAY CLUB

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

ELDORADO RESORT CASINO 345 N. Virginia St., (775) 786-5700 1) Showroom 2) Brew Brothers 3) BuBinga Live 4) Stadium Bar

GRAND SIERRA RESORT

Karaoke Cobra Lounge at Asian Noodles, 1290 E. Plumb Lane, Ste. 1, 828-7227: Cash Karaoke w/Jacques Simard, Sa, 8pm, no cover Hangar Bar, 10603 Stead Blvd., Stead, 677-7088: Karaoke Kat, Sa, 9pm, no cover Murphy’s Law Irish Pub, 180 W. Peckham Lane, Ste. 1070, 823-9977: Steve Starr Karaoke, F, 9pm, no cover Ponderosa Saloon, 106 South C St., Virginia City, 847-7210: Steel Rockin’ Karaoke, F, 7:30pm, no cover Spiro’s Sports Bar & Grille, 1475 E. Prater Way, Ste. 103, Sparks, 356-6000: F-Sa, 9pm, no cover West Second Street Bar, 118 W. Second St., 384-7976: Daily, 8pm, no cover

2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000 1) Grand Theater 2) Lex Nightclub 3) Sports Book 4) Cantina 5) Summit Pavilion

HARRAH’S LAKE TAHOE

15 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (775) 588-6611 1) South Shore Room 2) Peek Nightclub 3) Center Stage Lounge

HARRAH’S RENO

219 N. Center St., (775) 788-2900 1) Sammy’s Showroom 2) The Zone 3) Sapphire Lounge 4) Plaza 5) Convention Center

JA NUGGET

3) DJ/dancing, 5pm, Josh Budro Band,

1100 Nugget Ave., Sparks; (775) 356-3300 8pm, no cover 1) Celebrity Showroom 2) Rose Ballroom 3) Gilley’s

MONTBLEU RESORT

55 Hwy. 50, Stateline; (800) 648-3353 1) Theatre 2) Opal 3) Blu 4) The Zone

PEPPERMILL RESORT SPA CASINO 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121 1) Tuscany Ballroom 2) Terrace Lounge 3) Edge 4) Capri Ballroom

2) Cliff Notes, 7pm, no cover

SILVER LEGACY

2) Bonzai Thursdays w/DJ Trivia,

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

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2-3) New Year’s Eve at MontBleu, 8pm, W, $55-$75 3) Boogie Nights, 9pm, M, $10

shop local aNd save RN&R ReadeRs Receive up to 50% off Gift ceRtificates to local meRchaNts

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

Events AMP NEW YEAR: Amplified Entertainment and Tropical Splash present this New Year’s Eve party with Amplified DJs. Open to ages 18 and older. W, 12/31, 10pm. $15. Knitting Factory Concert House, 211 N. Virginia St., (775) 3235648, http://re.knittingfactory.com.

BUMPRENO NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY: Finish off 2014 with music by DJs Adam Glass, Serg Rockwell, Silhoutte, Chi-Gu Kom, Tranzor B, Jacie, Jek Tek and Ahn. W, 12/31, 9pm. No cover. Studio on 4th, 432 E. Fourth St., (775) 737-9776.

HELLFIRE SALOON NYE SHOW: The year-end show includes a champagne toast, party favors and music by the Greg Golden Band. W, 12/31, 9pm. $10. Hellfire Saloon, 9825 S. Virginia St., (775) 622-8878, http://facebook.com/hellfiresaloon.

L. LANCE GILMAN’S NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY: The party includes a prime rib dinner, two free drinks, live entertainment, party favors, raffle prizes, champagne toast and a balloon drop. W, 12/31, 8pm. $45 per person, $80 per couple. Mustang Ranch Steakhouse & Hunters Lounge/Bar, 5 N. C St., Virginia City, (775) 847-4188, www.lancegilmansnewyearseve.com.

MASTERWORKS CONCERTO NO. 4: NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION: The Nevada Chamber Music Festival concludes with a program featuring works by Suppé, de Falla, Arensky, Strauss, among others. The New Year’s Eve PostConcert Dinner-Celebration with the festival musicians follows at the Grand Sierra. A package featuring tickets to both the Masterworks Concert No. 4: New Year’s Eve Celebration and the Post-Concert Dinner is available. W, 12/31, 7pm. $5-$35 for concert.

Nightingale Concert Hall, Church Fine Arts Complex, University of Nevada, Reno, 1335 N. Virginia St., (775) 348-9413, www.renochamberorchestra.org.

MULTI-FAITH NEW YEAR’S EVE SERVICE: Representatives from various religions will celebrate the ringing in of the new year at this gathering coordinated by religious statesman Rajan Zed and hosted by Reno Buddhist Center. The service will include prayers by Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Baha’i and Native American leaders. W, 12/31, 10:30pm-midnight. Free. The Reno Buddhist Center, 820 Plumas St., (775) 322-7577.

NEW YEAR’S EVE AT MONTBLEU: The year-end celebration includes an all-access pass to three parties in Opal Ultra Lounge, Blu Nightclub and MontBleu’s convention center. There will be live music by DJ Miles Medina plus go-go dancers, body painting and more. W, 12/31, 8pm. $55-$75. MontBleu Resort, 55 Highway

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DECEMBER 24, 2014

50, Stateline, (800) 648-3353, www.montbleuresort.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATION: The party features a live band, two complimentary drink tickets, champagne toast at midnight and more. W, 12/31, 9:30pm. $44.95. Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000, www.grandsierraresort.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE COMEDY BASH WITH K-VON: The star of MTV’s hit show Disaster Date performs two New Year’s Eve shows. W, 12/31, 7:30 & 9:30pm. $25. Silver Legacy, 407 N. Virginia St., (775) 325-7401, www.silverlegacyreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE FIRE & ICE CELEBRATION: Ring in 2015 at this all-ages celebration featuring a DJ, live music by Petty Theft (a tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), a fireworks show, s’mores, drink specials, face painting, dining, ice skating and more. W, 12/31, 12-9pm. The Village at Northstar, 3001 Northstar Drive, Truckee, (530) 562-1010, www.northstarcalifornia.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE FIREWORKS: Circus Circus Hotel & Casino, Eldorado Resort Casino, Silver Legacy Resort Casino and the city of Reno host the annual event. At the stroke of midnight, hundreds of fireworks will be shot off the rooftop of Circus Circus during the 15-minute fireworks show synchronized to music. Th, 1/1/2015. Free. Downtown Reno, Virginia Street, (775) 329-0711, www.circuscircusreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE MASSACRE: Join Los Pistoleros and Mary Jane Rocket for the year-end celebration. W, 12/31, 9pm. $3. Jub Jub’s Thirst Parlor, 71 S. Wells Ave., (775) 384-1652.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTIES AT THE ELDORADO: BuBinga Lounge will host the Final Farewell party featuring Roni Romance, DJ Dragon and DJ Lucian spinning into the new year.

There also will be party favors, a countdown and a midnight toast. Fashionable attire is required. General admission tickets cost $30 in advance. Guests can upgrade to an $80 all-access pass that includes an open premium bar from 8pm to midnight at all Eldorado bars and lounges. The Brew Brothers New Year’s Eve features the Garage Boys playing new rock hits and DJ Montague rockin’ the beats well into 2015.

Advance tickets cost $15, which includes party favors, plus a countdown and a midnight toast. Cover begins at 9pm Roxy’s Bar and Lounge mixes it up with Paul and Bobby playing at the piano bar starting at 4:30pm, followed by DJ MoFunk at 11pm spnning into the wee hours of the morning. There will be party favors, a countdown and a midnight toast and no cover charge. Head down to the Crystal Ballroom in the Eldorado con-

vention area for a New Year’s Eve party, which starts at 10:30pm and includes two complimentary drinks, a live band featuring ’70s and ’80s music, DJ and dancing. Tickets cost $40 per person or a table of 10 for $360.

Bottle service also will be available.

Fashionable attire is required. Cin Cin Bar and Lounge offers a more-laid back affair with party favors, a toast at midnight and no cover charge. W, 12/31, 9pm. Eldorado Resort Casino, 345 N. Virginia St., (775) 7865700, www.eldoradoreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT CIRCUS CIRCUS: Enjoy free live music on the Cabaret Stage with Escalade, free party favors and at midnight, watch the fireworks outside. W, 12/31, 9pm.

Circus Circus, 500 N. Sierra St., (775) 3290711, www.circuscircusreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT 5 STAR SALOON: The party includes complimentary champagne, performances and photos with Top West Coast Divas. Contests, prizes, live DJ, karaoke and more. $5-$10. W, 12/31. 5 Star Saloon, 132 West St., (775) 329-2878, www.5StarSaloon.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT GREAT BASIN BREWING CO.: The Novelists and Tyler Stafford will help kick off the new year. W, 12/31, 9pm. $20. Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 355-7711, www.greatbasinbrewingco.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT HEAVENLY SKI RESORT: The celebration features music, games, fireworks and the Gondola Ball Drop.

Entertainment includes an outdoor concert, ice sculpting performances, fire dancers, a photo booth and face painting. W, 12/31, 69pm. Call for info. Heavenly Ski Resort, 3860 Saddle Rd. in South Lake Tahoe, (775) 5867000, www.skiheavenly.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT SQUAW VALLEY: Five bars will offer live music and DJs to help ring in the new year. A free Squaw shuttle will run until 2 a.m. with extra busses operating on this route. For more information, check the North Tahoe shuttle schedule. W, 12/31, 9pm. $10. Squaw Valley Olympic House, 1990 Squaw Peak Road, Olympic Valley, (800) 403-0206, http://squawalpine.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PRE-PARTY TASTING: Taste local whiskey, rum, gin and more at this New Year’s Eve pre-party tasting. W, 12/31, 5-8pm. Free.

Verdi Local Distillery, 1155 Old Highway 40 Unit B, Verdi, (775) 247-4628, https://www.facebook.com/verdilocaldistillery.

NEW YEAR’S EVE ROCKING THE DOME DANCE PARTY: The ticket includes one drink, party favors, champagne toast at midnight and live per-

formance by DJ Kentot. W, 12/31, 10pm. $40.

Silver Legacy, 407 N. Virginia St., (775) 3257401, www.silverlegacyreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOW WITH APPLE Z: W, 12/31, 10pm. $10. Cargo at Whitney Peak Hotel, 255 N. Virginia St., (775) 398-5400, http://cargoreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH CIANA: Ceol Irish Pub’s sends off 2014 with music by Ciana. W, 12/31, 9pm. No cover. Ceol Irish Pub, 538 S. Virginia St., (775) 329-5558, http://ceolirishpub.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE EVENTS AT JA NUGGET: The Celebrity Showroom will feature a Dinner Show featuring Jay White’s Neil Diamond Tribute. The party gets even bigger in the casino, where there will be a free champagne toast and countdown to midnight, complete with party favors. W, 12/31, 7pm. $50-$75 for dinner and show; free for casino floor party. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave., Sparks, (775) 356-3300, www.janugget.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTIES AT THE PEPPERMILL: The Peppermill rings in 2015 with several parties.

In the Capri Ballroom, send off 2014 with music by Maxxt Outt, party favors, champagne toast and a balloon drop at midnight.

Tickets are $65 per person, which includes three drink coupons. Welcome 2015 at EDGE nightspot during the Tick Tock EDGE New Year’s Eve party with Red Bull Thre3style World Champion, Four Color Zack. Celebrate with party favors, a midnight champagne toast, and a celebratory balloon drop. Doors opens at 8pm. Tickets are $50 in advance and $55 at the door .The Inciters will perform a free show The Terrace from 9pm into the new year. The party continues on the casino floor with free champagne and festive party favors from 8pm.to 12:30am. W, 12/31, 8pm. Peppermill Resort Spa Casino, 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121, www.peppermillreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTIES AT THE PEPPERMILL: The Peppermill rings in 2015 with several parties.

In the Capri Ballroom, send off 2014 with music by Maxxt Outt, party favors, champagne toast and a balloon drop at midnight.

Tickets are $65 per person, which includes three drink coupons. Welcome 2015 at EDGE nightspot during the Tick Tock EDGE New Year’s Eve party with Red Bull Thre3style World Champion, Four Color Zack. Celebrate with party favors, a midnight champagne toast, and a celebratory balloon drop. Doors opens at 8pm. Tickets are $50 in advance and $55 at the door.The Inciters will perform a free show The Terrace from 9 pm into the new year. The party continues on the casino floor with free champagne and festive party favors from 8pm to 12:30am. W, 12/31, 8pm.

Peppermill Resort Spa Casino, 2707 S. Virginia St., (775) 826-2121, www.peppermillreno.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY AT SANDS REGENCY: The casino will ring in 2015 around the world with drawings every hour from 2pm to 11pm. The John Dawson Band will perform at the 3rd Street Lounge from 10pm to 2am. There will be party favors and a midnight toast throughout the casino floor. W, 12/31, 10pm.

Free. Sands Regency, 345 N. Arlington Ave., (775) 348-2200, www.sandsregency.com.

NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY WITH SUSPECT ZERO: W, 12/31, 10pm. Murphy’s Law Irish Pub, 180 W. Peckham Lane. Ste. 1070, (775) 823-9977.

NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOW: FELIPE ESPARZA: Reno Tahoe Comedy presents the stand-up comic with host Chris Storin and guest comics Drew Shafer, Will Tulin, Kelly Hilbert, Josie Spadoni and Darin Talbot. W, 12/31, 6:30pm. $20 in advance, $25 day of the show. Reno Tahoe Comedy Club, 100 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-5233, www.renotahoecomedy.com.

NYE—THE BLACK TIE AFFAIR: Send off 2014 with music spun by DJs Enfo and Nick Ferrer. W, 12/31, 10pm. $30-$60. Grand Sierra Resort, 2500 E. Second St., (775) 789-2000, www.grandsierraresort.com.

PAPIER! NEW YEAR’S EVE POP-UP DINNER: In celebration of its one-year anniversary, Tournant Pop-Up Restaurant is throwing a dinner party to ring in the New Year.

Papier—a New Year’s Eve Pop-Up event includes a five-course prix fixe menu with wine service and a champagne toast. The cost is $125 per person for all-inclusive dining. Purchase your seat in advance, as space is limited. W, 12/31, 8pm. $125. Little House on Center St., 725 S. Center St., (775) 400-3855, http://tournantpopup.com.

PAWNSHOP PIMPS & HOES NYE CELEBRATION: New Year’s Eve party with pimps and hoes theme with music by Pawnshop. Best costume wins $100 bar tab. W, 12/31, 9pm. No cover. Elbow Room Bar, 2002 Victorian Ave., Sparks, (775) 358-6700, http://elbowroomsparks.com.

POLO LOUNGE NEW YEAR’S EVE PARTY: Music by Gemini W, 12/31, 8pm. No cover. Polo Lounge, 1559 S. Virginia St., (775) 322-8864.

SNOWGLOBE MUSIC FESTIVAL: The three-day music festival features performances by Disclosure, Flume, Porter Robinson, Skrillex, Zedd, Atmosphere, Flux Pavilion, Phantogram, Odesza, among others. M-W, 2pm through 12/31. Opens 12/29. $99. Lake Tahoe Community College, One College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, (530) 541-4660, http://snowglobemusicfestival.com.

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30TH ANNUAL RTC NEW YEAR’S EVE FREE SAFE RIDE The RTC New Year’s Eve FREE Safe RIDE program gives the community a reliable and safe way to ring in 2015. All RTC transit services will be FREE from 6 PM to 2AM. Made possible through the generous support of sponsors: Renown Health, the Northern Nevada DUI Task Force, KOLO 8, Wood Rodgers, Inc., Club Cal Neva, REMSA, Morrey Distributing, Reno Fire Fighters Local 731, RSCVA, and Reno News & Review. W, 12/31 6PM2AM, free. http://www.rtcwashoe.com

THE DESERT THROUGH MY EYES Aimee Kelly’s exhibition includes nine color photographs printed on aluminum. Her work tends to focus on nature and the environment, primarily desert ecosystems. Through the lens of her camera Aimee strives to capture the contradictory elements of the desert, which can range from absolutely stunning to downright strange. This new exhibition looks at the power of water in the desert. M-Th, Su, 10AM-5PM, 10AM6PM & 11AM-7PM through 12/28, free. Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway (775) 424-1800

CROCHET CONNECTION Learn to crochet or share tips with other crochet enthusiasts.

Th, 4-5:45PM, free. Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway. (775) 424-1800

FOUR SEASONS BOOK CLUB The book club meets the first Saturday of each month. Call to find out each month’s book title. First Sa of every month, 1-2PM, free. Sparks Library, 1125 12th St. (775) 352-3200

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The drop-in conversation program meets on the first Saturday of each month, 2-4PM, free. Sparks Library, 1125 12th St. (775) 352-3200

CLICKETS KNITTING GROUP This class is for knitters of all ages and levels. Yarn and needles are available. First and Third Su of every month, 1:30-3PM, free. Spanish Springs Library, 7100A Pyramid Lake Highway, Spanish Springs (775) 424-1800

LIVE MUSIC Sa, 9PM and Su, 3PM, no cover. CBQ, 1330 Scheels Dr. (775) 359-1109 Line dancing lessons from the Gilley’s Girls from 6PM-8PM. Enjoy DJ Trey from 6PM-mid. W, 6PM through 12/31. No cover.

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Live music with late-night DJ. Sa, 5PM-2AM & 7PM-midnight through 12/27, no cover.

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KARAOKE WITH BOBBY DEE Tu, 8PM, no cover. Morelli’s G Street Saloon, 2285 G St. (775) 355-8281

KARAOKE Th-Sa, 9PM, no cover. Bottom’s Up Saloon, 1923 Prater Way (775) 359-3677

CLASSIC ROCK NIGHT Classic rock night with DJ. Tu, 5PM through 12/30, no cover.

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LADIES NIGHT & TOUGHEST COWBOY

W, 12/31, 8:15PM, $75 dinner and show; $50 show only. In the Celebrity Showroom. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

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Locals Night, DJ. M, 5PM through 12/29, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

There will be a free champagne toast and countdown to midnight on the casino floor, complete with party favors. W, 12/31, 7PM, $50-$75 for dinner and show. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

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Come dance the night away to DJ RAZZ! You can even karaoke if you like. Ladies Night every Friday night. Drink Specials all night. F, 9PM. Paddy & Irene’s Irish Pub, 906-A Victorian Ave. (775) 358-5484

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Live music with late-night DJ. F, 5PM-2AM & 7-11PM through 12/26, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

DJ and Bikini Bull Riding Competition. Su, 5 & 9PM through 12/28, no cover. John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

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DJ RAZZ

Sa, 12/27, 8PM, $15. JA Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave.,(775) 356-3300

ART OF THE STATE

This is a singer-songwriter showcase. Come down to Paddy’s and bring your acoustic instruments. Sign-ups are at 7:30PM and music begins at 8PM. Drink Specials all night! Th, 8PM, no cover. Paddy & Irene’s Irish Pub, 906-A Victorian Ave. (775) 358-5484

W, 12/31, 9PM, $20. Great Basin Brewing Co., 846 Victorian Ave. (775) 355-7711

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PAWNSHOP PIMPS & HOES NYE CELEBRATION Join us on New Year’s Eve for a “Pimps & Hoes” celebration, featuring Pawnshop. Best costume wins $100 bar tab! W, 12/31, 9PM, no cover. Elbow Room Bar, 2002 Victorian Ave. (775) 356-9799

Ladies Night w/live music and Toughest Cowboy Competition.

DJ breaks until midnight. W, 7 & 9PM through 12/31, no cover.

John Ascuaga’s Nugget, 1100 Nugget Ave. (775) 356-3300

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DECEMBER 24, 2014

You delete me I’m trying to get over my ex, but I constantly check his Twitter and Facebook pages, and I get really upset. I’ll see pix of women or see that he’s gone to some event and wonder whether he met anyone there. It’s crazymaking, but I can’t seem to stop looking.

You know you’ll feel bad when you check his Facebook and Twitter, yet you keep doing it. This is the social media version of being the busty friend character in the horror movie—the one who says, “I hear creepy reptilian hissing coming from the cellar. I’m sure it’s nothing, but I’ll just rub my large breasts with raw hamburger and go down there with this flickering flashlight to check.”

You, like the rest of us, are prone to fall into automatic strings of behavior we call habits. In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explains that “a habit is a choice we deliberately make at some point, and then stop thinking about, but continue doing.” Research finds that every habit has three components, which Duhigg calls the cue (a feeling that triggers behavior), the routine (the behavior itself), and the reward (some sort of payoff that tells your brain, “Oh, yeah, let’s totally do that again”).

Duhigg emphasizes that you can break a habit. You do this by swapping out the middle step, the routine (compulsively clicking into your ex’s social media accounts). To understand what to replace it with, check in with yourself at the moment the urge strikes and figure out the “why”—what reward you’re going after,

what need you’re trying to fill. Maybe you’re lonely and longing to feel connected. Or maybe you’re going for a hit of intensity. Intense feelings are called “arousal” in psychology and can be positive or negative. Either leads to feeling stimulated and alive (though sometimes alive and pretty miserable).

Next, you need a plan—a substitute routine to slip in whenever the impulse to cyber-stalk him strikes. This replacement routine is especially important because a “negative goal”—not doing something—is way harder than doing something different. So, if it’s connection you’re longing for, call a friend. If you’re an intensity junkie, watch a clip from a slasher movie.

Be prepared for temptation to gnaw at you, especially if you’re tired or hungry (when willpower is at its wimpiest). Make it harder for yourself to cheat by mailing your phone to a faraway friend and burying your modem in the backyard—or at least blocking the guy on social media. When the going gets tough, remind yourself that time heals most wounds, and it should do the job on yours—as soon as you stop picking that 140-character scab every 10 minutes. Ω

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

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suffering of being unable to love,” wrote novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. Using that definition, I’m happy to announce that you have a good chance of avoiding hell altogether in 2015. If there has been any deficiency in your power to express and bestow love, I think you will correct it. If you have been so intent on getting love that you have been neglectful in giving love, you will switch your focus. I invite you to keep a copy of this horoscope in your wallet for the next 12 months. Regard it as your “Get Out of Hell Free” card.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Beetles are

abundant and ubiquitous. Scientists have identified more than 350,000 species, and they are always discovering new ones. In 2011, for example, they conferred official recognition on 3,485 additional types of beetles. I’m seeing a parallel development in your life, Taurus. A common phenomenon that you take for granted harbors mysteries that are worth exploring. Something you regard as quite familiar actually contains interesting features you don’t know about.

In 2015, I hope you will open your mind to the novelties and exotica that are hidden in plain sight.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Auguste Es-

coffier (1846-1935) was an influential French chef who defined and standardized the five “mother sauces.” But he wasn’t content to be a star in his own country. At the age of 44, he began his “conquest of London,” bringing his spectacular dining experience to British restaurants. He thought it might be hard to sell his new clientele on frogs’ legs, a traditional French dish, so he resorted to trickery. On the menu, he listed it as “Nymphs of the Dawn.” According to my reading of the omens, this is an example of the hocus-pocus that will be your specialty in 2015. And I suspect you will get away with it every time as long as your intention is not selfish or manipulative, but rather generous and constructive.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The ento-

mologist Charles P. Alexander (1889-1981) devoted much of his professional life to analyzing the insect known as the crane fly. He identified more than 11,000 different species, drew 15,000 illustrations of the creatures and referred to his lab as “Crane Fly Haven.” That’s the kind of single-minded intention I’d love to see you adopt during the first six months of 2015, Cancerian. What I’m imagining is that you will choose a specific, well-defined area within which you will gleefully explore and experiment and improvise.

Is there a subject or task or project you would have fun pursuing with that kind of intensity?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In Don DeLillo’s novel

Underworld, Cotter Martin is a young boy living in New York in the 1950s. The following description is about him. “In school they tell him sometimes to stop looking out the window. This teacher or that teacher. The answer is not out there, they tell him. And he always wants to say that’s exactly where the answer is.” I propose we regard this passage as one of your themes in 2015, Leo. In other words, be skeptical of any authority who tells you where you should or should not be searching for the answers. Follow your own natural inclination, even if at first it seems to be nothing more than looking out the window.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “It is always

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Hell is the

Jan. 9 & 10, 2015

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important to know when something has reached its end,” writes Paulo Coelho in his book The Zahir. Use this advice heroically in 2015, Virgo. Wield it to clear away anything that no longer serves you, that weighs you down or holds you back. Prepare the way for the new story that will begin for you around your next birthday. “Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters,” Coelho says, “it doesn’t matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over.”

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “On some nights

I still believe,” said rascal journalist Hunter S. Thompson, “that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.” In 2015, I invite you to adopt some of that push-it-to-the-edge attitude for your personal use, Libra. Maybe not full-time;

maybe not with the same manic intensity that Thompson did. Rather, simply tap into it as needed—whenever you’ve got to up your game or raise your intensity level or rouse the extra energy you need TO ACHIEVE TOTAL, WONDROUS, RESOUNDING VICTORY!!!

The coming months will be your time to go all the way, hold nothing back and quest for the best and the most and the highest.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Twenty

miles long, the Onyx River is the longest body of moving water on the continent of Antarctica. Most of the year it’s ice, though.

It actually flows for just two or three months during the summer. Let’s hope that continues to be the case for the foreseeable future. It would be a shame if global warming got so extreme that the Onyx melted permanently. But now let’s talk about your own metaphorical equivalent of the Onyx: a potentially flowing part of your life that is often frozen. I’d love to see it heat up and thaw. I’d love it to be streaming and surging most of the time. And in 2015, I think that’s a distinct possibility. Consider making the following declaration your battle cry: I am the Flow Master!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

“The best way to keep a prisoner from escaping is to make sure he never knows he’s in prison.” That quote is attributed to both Russian authors Fyodor Dostoevsky and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Regardless of who said it, I urge you to keep it in mind throughout 2015. Like all of us, you are trapped in an invisible prison: a set of beliefs or conditioned responses or bad habits that limit your freedom to act. That’s the bad news. The good news is that in the coming months, you are poised to discover the exact nature of your invisible prison, and then escape it.

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

he was 37 years old, actor Jack Nicholson found out that Ethel May, the woman he had always called his mother, was in fact his grandma. Furthermore, his “older sister” June was actually his mom, who had given birth to him when she was 17. His relatives had hidden the truth from him. I suspect that in 2015 you will uncover secrets and missing information that will rival Nicholson’s experience. Although these revelations may initially be confusing or disruptive, in the long run they will heal and liberate you.

Welcome them!

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “Meupa-

reunia” is an English word that refers to a sexual adventure in which only one of the participants has a good time. I’ll be bold and predict that you will not experience a single instance of meupareunia in 2015. That’s because I expect you’ll be steadily upgrading your levels of empathy and your capacity for receptivity. You will be getting better and better at listening to your intimate allies and reading their emotional signals. I predict that synergy and symbiosis will be your specialties. Both your desire to please and your skill at giving pleasure will increase, as will your understanding of how many benefits you can reap by being a responsive partner.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Be good

and you will be lonesome,” said Mark Twain.

Do you agree? I don’t—at least as it applies to your life in 2015. According to my understanding of the long-term astrological omens, you will attract an abundance of love and luck by being good—by expressing generosity, deepening your compassion, cultivating integrity and working for justice and truth and beauty. That doesn’t mean you should be a pushover or doormat. Your resolve to be good must be leavened by a determination to deepen your self-respect.

Your eagerness to do the right thing has to include a commitment to raising your levels of self-care.

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

by Marina Palmieri PHOTO/MARINA PALMIERI

Food for all palates

Is everything made in-house?

Jessica Pauletto

Yes, all of our pastas are made in-house and all of our breads are made in-house.

Another part of this operation is in the future we would like to provide Burger Me, another one of Mark Estee’s restaurants, with all of our own hamburgers, buns and patties.

Reno Provisions is located in downtown Reno. It is a one-stop food shop.

In the former J.C. Penney’s building on the northeast corner of First and Sierra. It is open seven days a week, serving all local and fresh cafeteria style food. We caught up with manager Jessica Pauletto to learn more.

Tell me about Reno Provisions.

So, it’s a dream that Mark Estee has had for a very long time. It’s difficult to describe it in one word. We are a butchery, a bakery, a pasta, bread production kitchen downstairs. Upstairs we are a cafeteria, a demo kitchen, a market area, retail section, wrap-around bar, self-seating area. We are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., so we do serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. As far as the cafeteria involved, it is $6 for breakfast, $9 for lunch and dinner. It gets you a tray and you can have as many items as you want in the hot and cold cases.

Otherwise we have some a la carte items.

We have a beautiful market area where you can grab short ribs, any cut of meat we can do on the spot for you to take home. A lot of people have come in and purchased meat and a baguette and have a little picnic with themselves. So that’s fun. So, yes it’s a glorified cafeteria in one word. We wanted to create something that was vertical integration, which means

How long have you been open? a self-sustaining restaurant. Well, not a restaurant—we aren’t allowed to call it that, so self-sustaining place. So basically we get all of our local product from in and around Reno or Northern California. We bring it here, we prepare it downstairs, and then it comes upstairs and out to the customers. So that’s kind of what the vertical integration is all about. Also, one of our philosophies is local, fresh and seasonal.

Almost everything we have in here is from very close proximity to us. … [C]ome 7 p.m. we are closed to the public and open for private booked events. So people come in here and rent the front room. You can have a small chef’s demonstration in our test kitchen. We do invite local chefs in here to do a cooking demonstration or Mark Estee himself.

What style of food do you offer?

OK, so the style is first, local, fresh and seasonal. Simple. So it is many recipes that you could find at Campo, brought here in a much simpler grab-and-go fashion. We have a lot of artisanal breads, meats and

Be of good cheer Bruce is devoting himself to matters of the season this week, so here’s an encore from 1997.

How about a few hosannas for that much-maligned institution of the Christmas office party? They can often be terrific socials, yet we seem to complain an awful lot about them, as though we’d really rather we watching Wheel of Fortune instead of talking, drinking, eating and cavorting with our friends and colleagues.

One thing I’ve found about doing the Yuletide Slide is, contrary to what you may read elsewhere, the best parties those where people get liquored up. You read the primers about How to Survive the Office Party and tip No. 1 is always the same: “Whatever you do, you must not get blotto on alcohol, because you’ll commit some ghastly faux pas that will blow your chances for that big raise, wreck your shot for that lusty office affair, or have your colleagues think you’re a weirdo.” Well, hell, party on, Garth, and when do we get to pin the tail on the donkey?

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sauces. So one of our philosophies is we want to bring people in, give them a taste of good simple fresh food, and then also teach them how to do it by themselves.

ARTS&CULTURE

How’s business?

It has been incredible, definitely a learning process. We have very quickly figured out what people like, what they dislike, what we need more of. People love our fresh pastas that we make in-house. People love the opportunity to buy something off our shelves and then go downstairs for a tour and see exactly where it comes from and enjoy every bite that much more because they see the source of it.

Do you have something for all types of eaters?

I think that this is the only place in Reno— and correct me if I’m wrong—where at one table you can happily satisfy a meat lover, a vegetarian, a sweet tooth and someone who just wants a glass of wine all at the same time. Ω

∫y Bruce Van Dye

If you can’t spot the weirdos, or see who’s got hormone fever, or witness somebody completely blow it with the boss, what’s the point?

Christmas parties, like all parties, need liquor and music, and we’ve known this now since the dawn of humanity. This is especially true if people are planning to sing Christmas carols. So make sure your event has good booze and good speakers on the stereo.

You know what good booze is. It’s the stuff that’s more expensive than the swill you usually drag home. Get lots of good beer and good wine. For a nice seasonal touch, make up a batch of mulled wine, especial if you want people to tear their clothes off with the wanton heat of 500 wicked gypsies.

As for tunes, make sure you have the following selections on hand, to be played only when the folks are hitting their party peaks, usually about two or three hours into the evening.

• Stones, “Brown Sugar”: By now billions of earthlings recognize this |

Only two weeks. December 3 was our first official day.

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one as a massive achievement in party music.

Positively kills the boomers, and holds its own with Gen X. • Trammps, “Disco Inferno”: This song put its boogie finger on humanity’s innate desire to “burn that muthuh down.” It never fails to get the gals shrieking and shaking and high-fivin’, which is something you want at a Christmas party.

• Patsy Cline, “Crazy”: Good lord, don’t forget to have some great slow music on hand. Gives the lusters a great chance to kiss and squeeze in front of everybody. Works for boomers, Gen X, WWII, and the occasional gothic teen.

And please, after all this party action, don’t forget to give yourself ample time to cool down to about a .02 blood alcohol level. We thank you, your car thanks you, and local emergency rooms thank you. Ω

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DECEMBER 24, 2014

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